A Different Take
by SpecialK92
Summary: What would it have been like if Tommy lived in Angel Grove his whole life growing? He says he can't stand Kimberly or thinks he can't until they end up becoming friends over Kimberly getting hurt on a balance beam, during 2nd grade. They are each other's only friend and must go through trials all the time. Revised and Changed from a New Point of View to A Different Take.
1. Differences

Caroline Hart and Jan Oliver had been very close friends their whole entire life. They went to public school together and they went to college together. Both of them were now married and they had a child of their own. Their children even shared the same birthday. That was something Tommy hated because his mother made him attend Kimberly's birthday party every year, because none of the other kids in the class went. However, neither one of the children were friends. Both of them thought that they were from two different back grounds.

Caroline's daughter (Kimberly) was into gymnastics and was the best on the team. She had been taking gymnastics since she was a small child. Kimberly liked to shop at the mall, loved the color pink, loved Mexican food, liked to play with Barbie's, was loved fashion. Jan's son (Tommy) took karate and was one of the best. He was into karate since he was a small age. Tommy loved the colors green, white, red, and black, he loved Italian food, was interested fossils, race cars, and white tigers, dragons. He was picky about the clothes that he wore. He'd only wore jeans, khakis, flannel shirts, tee shirts, and Henley shirts.

Both of the children had trouble making friends and spent most of the time alone. Caroline and Jan hoped to get their children to become friends, but it never worked out. The two children always heard it was uncool to for a boy and a girl to be best friends. Even though they thought that they came from two different worlds, they shared many of the same interests. They both liked dinosaurs, falcons, cranes, swimming, and video games.

Jan was waiting in her car, waiting for her son to get out of school. When the bell rang, a tall little boy about the age of eight came out of school. He had brown shoulder length hair and was in jeans, a white Henley, and a green jacket. Tommy got in his mom's car and shut the door behind him.

"How was school?"

"Mom, you'll never believe what happened today."

"What happened? Did you and CJ get into another argument?"

"This is even worse! And I know that you'll agree with me."

"What could be worse than you and CJ getting into an argument? I've already been called by the principal three times this year because you and CJ got into over something. What happened today?"

"We got new tables and chairs today. And we got to pick where we sat. I just sat down at a table and Kimberly decided she wants to sit next to me. I'm stuck sitting next to her for the rest of the. I couldn't get up and move because the teacher said once we sat down, we couldn't move to another table."

"I was best friends with her mom growing up. They live next door."

"Mom, don't remind me. I'm stuck sitting next to her all year. When I asked her why she wanted to sit next to me, she said she wanted a friend. And she wanted to be friends with me."

"That's wonderful, I'm glad you've got someone to play with."

"I asked her if she had anyone else that she'd rather sit with. She said that the only time that she's wanted by other children is during gymnastics practice and during gymnastics competitions. When there isn't anything gymnastics related going on, no one wants to be around her. She also claims her parents are having trouble."

Jan pulled into the Oliver's drive way and Tommy got out of the car. When Jan got home, the school bus stopped at the house next door. A girl with shoulder length brown hair got off the bus. The girl wasn't as tall as Tommy was. She had was wearing overalls and a pink tee shirt.

"Looks like Kimberly is getting home from school," smiled Jan. "You should go over to her house and spend time with her."

Tommy looked up and saw Kimberly walking across the yard to over to his house. She was headed in his direction.

"Mom, she's coming over here," complained Tommy.

"Tommy, you're going to be nice her," warned Jan.

Kimberly walked over to Tommy and threw her arms around him.

"Why are you hugging me?" demanded Tommy.

"I like you," answered Kimberly. "You're my best friend."

"I don't like to be hugged," remarked Tommy. "Please let go off me."

He shoved her off of him and she looked offended.

"Mrs. Oliver, why doesn't Tommy liked to be hugged?" questioned Kimberly.

"He doesn't like for anyone to hug him," explained Jan. "He won't even let me and James hug or kiss him. For some reason, he can't stand it. At times, we wonder if it is because he's angry because he's adopted. He lost his brother and parents in an accident shortly after he was born. I was really close to his birth mother. She was close to your mom and me. I was Tommy's god mother; after he lost his parents, I got a copy of his parents' will. If anything was to happen to them, they wanted James and me to adopt him."

"At school, he has trouble making friends. He's already been in trouble for fighting with a kid named CJ," revealed Kimberly.

"I know," answered Jan.

"My parents are having trouble and I have trouble making friends too," stated Kimberly. "I hope Tommy and I can became friends. The only time the kids want me around is during gymnastics. "

"Maybe, the reason why no one wants you around is because you're annoying and odd," Tommy said angrily.

"Tommy, that's enough!" scolded Jan.

"Mom, it's true," declared Tommy. "Kimberly is annoying. She's been following me around for as long as I can remember. At recess she chases me all over the play ground."

"Tommy, please stop, while you're ahead," warned Jan.

Tommy walked inside his house and slammed the door. Jan could tell that he really hurt Kimberly because he left her in tears. She walked over and hugged the little girl.

"I'm so sorry," apologized Jan. "I've raised my son better than that. I have never been so embarrassed."

"Mrs. Oliver, I think Tommy doesn't like to me around," sobbed Kimberly.

"I think he does," confessed Jan. "He said he had a crush on a little girl who loves pink. I'm certain it's you."

"He acts like he doesn't want to be around me," informed Kimberly. "He says he's better than me."

"What do you mean?" gasped Jan.

"Tommy says his father doesn't go out and waist money," replied Kimberly. "He doesn't cheat on you, he doesn't go several days without coming home."

"Caroline never said any of this," replied Jan. "I thought she bought you a coat and a jacket."

"She did, but I've out grew them last year," explained Kimberly. "Ever since my parents have been having trouble, my mom pays all the bills and provides food for the table. My father waists his pay check. She can't afford any them and she could barely afford to buy my school supplies."

Jan was really embarrassed about hearing about what Tommy had said to Kimberly. She wanted to him to bond with Kimberly so they'd both have a friend. Caroline told Jan she was going to be out of town for a few weeks; she needed someone to take care of Kimberly. Jan agreed to take care of Kimberly.

Caroline brought Kimberly over to the Oliver's house. She had brought a lot of clothes, pajamas, gymnastic clothes, and her school stuff. Jan sat up a folding cot and a sleeping bag for Kimberly to use, while she was staying in the Oliver's house. Tommy was in his room playing video games, when he saw Kimberly walk into his room.

"Mom, what is she doing her?" asked Tommy.

"Her mom has to go out of town," explained Jan. "She's going to be staying here for a few weeks and she's going to be in the same room."

Tommy went to his closet and got out a sleeping bag and a suit case. He started to pack a suit case full of clothes.

"Why are you packing a suit case?" asked Jan.

"I'm going to live in my tree house while she is here," answered Tommy.

"That's not an option," smiled Jan. "You're going to stay in this room with Kimberly. Both of you are going to watch TV together, sleep in the same room, and do all of your activities together."

"I think you'll end up being friends," interrupted Jan.

"Mom, I'd rather have a boy as a best friend," confirmed Tommy. "She's a girl and it's uncool to have girl for your best friend. If I had a boy for a best friend, I could play video games with them, we could have sleep overs, we could go to the water park together, we could go do fun thing that I can't do with a girl."

Jan walked out of the room and Tommy turned on the TV, since he didn't want Kimberly playing with his video games. He sat down on the bed and stretched out. Kimberly really did want Tommy as her friend and she was willing to do whatever it took. She walked over to his bed and sat down next to him, but he pushed her off the bed. So, she sat on the floor next to his bed.

Around dinner time, Jan brought up a small table and two chairs. She sat them down in the middle of the room and James brought up two personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut.

"I thought you said that I couldn't eat up here," gasped Tommy.

"Your father and I decided that you're going to spend all your time with Kimberly," informed Jan.

"We feel like it will give you two some bonding time," added James.

Shortly after dinner, they took showers and got ready for bed. In the middle of the night, Kimberly got scared. She got up and pushed her folding cot next to Tommy's bed. When Kimberly turned off her flash light and in the sleeping bag, Tommy woke up. He saw her cot was right next to his bed, which he didn't like; he rolled over and went back to sleep.

The following morning, Jan woke the children up for school. She brought up blueberry pan cakes and orange juice on a tray, and she sat it down on the table. Tommy got up, took a seat on the table, and began to eat. Kimberly moved her chair next to him and sat down.

"Why'd you move you're chair?"

"I wanted to sit by you. My mom is always having to get ready for work and doesn't get to eat breakfast with me. And my dad is rarely home in the mornings. It's nice having someone to eat breakfast with."

After Tommy ate he got out jeans, a green tee shirt, and a tan flannel shirt. He went into the bathroom to change. Kimberly got out a pair jeans and a pink tee shirt. After Kimberly got dressed she met Tommy down stairs.

"Are you ready for school?" asked Jan.

"I'm ready," answered Tommy.

"I'm ready to go," smiled Kimberly.

They got in Jan's car and she drove them to school. When they got to school, Tommy quickly got out of the car. He didn't want anyone to see him walk in with Kimberly. Jan just rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. Kimberly got out of the car and followed Tommy into school.


	2. Friends

Tommy was almost in the school building and he saw Kimberly running to catch up with him. She wanted to walk into school with him. They ended up walking through the door at the same time. He knew when they walked through the door, he could run because he'd get in trouble. And he had already been in trouble twice for running in the hall, just so he could get away from Kimberly. She followed him all the way to the class room and they took their seats. For the next few weeks he was stuck with her 24/7.

About two and a half hours later, they had PE. They had a free day and could do what ever they wanted. Kimberly wanted to practice on the balance beam and she wanted Tommy to watch. Grudgingly, he went over to balance beam. A girl on the gymnastics team was trying to get her off the team. She stole butter from the teacher's mini refrigerator and rubbed it on the balance beam. Tommy happened to see the girl do it, but Kimberly got up on the balance beam before he say anything to her.

Even though he didn't like Kimberly, he felt like he had to do some thing. The main reason was because his mom would be mad if he didn't. When she got up on the balance beam, she tried to do a cart wheel and she messed up because of the butter. Kimberly ended up hurting her ankle and she landed on Tommy. That caused him to hit his head on the balance beam and pass out. Jan was called to come get both of them and she had to have someone take her place at work. She took both of them to the doctor as soon as she picked them up. Tommy just had a concussion and Kimberly's ankle was broken.

All Tommy needed was to be supervised for the next 24 to 48 hours. Kimberly had her ankle put in a cast and she crutches to help her move around. Jan was given ice packs to keep on Tommy's head. She took them back home and both of them changed into pajamas. Both of them went into Tommy's room to lay down. Tommy got in his bed and Kimberly laid down on the folding cot. Jan brought in an extra pillow for Kimberly to rest her foot on. She laid the TV remote on Tommy's night stand.

"Please don't fight over the TV remote," begged Jan.

"We won't," answered Tommy.

Jan left the room, once she was gone Tommy grabbed the remote. He started flipping through the channels and saw that Rugrats was on Nickelodeon station 1, Hey Arnold was on Nickelodeon was on station 2, Boy Meets World was on Disney Channel, 101 Dalmatians' the Series was on Toon Disney, and The Land Before Time II was on Cartoon Network.

"What are we watching?" asked Kimberly.

"Either Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Boy Meets World, 101 Dalmatians the Series, or the Land Before Time II," answered Tommy. "I see that Hey Arnold and Rugrats are almost over."

"What comes on after them?" questioned Kimberly.

"SpongeBob on both Nickelodeon stations," answered Tommy. "I'm not allowed to watch that show, but I was never really into Sponge Bob too much anyway."

Tommy flipped over Cartoon Network and saw the missed Land Before Time II. Cow and Chicken was coming up next, but his mom and dad didn't like that show for some reason. They made it clear to him that he wasn't allowed to watch it. He flipped over to Toon Disney and saw there was more 101 Dalmatians' the Series coming up next. And there was more Boy Meets World coming up next.

"What do you want to watch?" asked Tommy.

"101 Dalmatians the Series," answered Kimberly. "It's one of my favorite shows, even though it is new. I've seen all of the episodes of Boy Meets World Season 1. I'm waiting for the second season."

"I am too," gasped Tommy. "I also like 101 Dalmatian's' the Series."

Since the TV was right in front of his bed, he could see it better. Tommy got off the bed and lifted Kimberly on to his bed so she could see the TV better. He got an extra pillow for her to lay her head on. Then he got a quilt out of the closet to cover them both up. He prompted her foot on the pillow Jan gave he and covered them both up. Kimberly moved closer to where Tommy was and they were using the same pillow. He just put the extra pillow behind the one they were using to help prompt them up more.

"When I fell of the balance beam, you caught me. Why did you do that?" asked Kimberly.

"I didn't like how Olivia put the butter on the balance beam and I didn't want you to get hurt," answered Tommy. "And as much as I hate to admit it, I really like you."

"I knew you did," smiled Kimberly. "Olivia and I have always had a rivalry over gymnastics. We always tried to be the best on the team. I guess she has it now that I'm off the team. And it seems like I won't be able to go to PE or recess for awhile. I know I can't go gymnastics for awhile."

"I got kicked out of karate for fighting with CJ," stated Tommy. "I have a black belt anyway."

A commercial came on TV. It said the magical world of toon's movie night was on Friday. That Friday the Land Before Time II was going to be on TV.

"Are we going to watch that?" gasped Kimberly. "I like those movies."

"Yes we are. I like those movies," answered Tommy. "I'm into dinosaurs. My favorite dinosaur is brachiosaurs. But I also really like the stegosaurs and the saurolophus."

"I like dinosuars too," said Kimberly. "I like the pterodactyl the best. And I also like the stegosaurs and the saurolophus."

"I'm also interested in falcons and cranes, I enjoy playing video games, and I love swimming," added Tommy.

"I like all of those things too!" gasped Kimberly.

Tommy noticed Kimberly had rolled over on her side and was laying as close to him. She wrapped both of her arms around him. Jan was walking up the stairs to bring them something to drink. She was standing outside the room and heard the talking.

"So, we're officially friends now?" asked Kimberly.

"Yes, we are," answered Tommy. "I'm not going to recess, when we go back to school."

"Why not?" questioned Kimberly.

"I won't have you to play with or you to chase me around," replied Tommy.

"I'm not going to chase you anymore," confessed Kimberly. "The only reason why I did was because I wanted you to be my friend."

Jan walked into the room and laid two bottle of water on the night stand.

"I knew you'd end up being friends with her," smiled Jan.

"Mom, can she start riding to school with us in the mornings?" asked Tommy. "That way she won't have to worry about being made fun of on the school bus."

"I'm sure Caroline will let her do that," answered Jan.

"Can we have sleepover, when my mom comes back?" questioned Kimberly.

"Yes, and I'm sure Caroline will allow it too," stated Jan.

She changed out Tommy's ice pack, since he had in his for the last few hours. Then she left the room. As soon as Jan left, Kimberly realized that their teacher would never let them stay inside recess unless they were sick, had a cast on an arm or a leg, didn't bring a jacket, etc. She wondered how Tommy would be able to stay in at recess with her everyday.


	3. Making Plans

As soon as Kimberly realized that Tommy wouldn't be able to stay inside recess everyday, she tried to ask him what he was going to do. But, she noticed he was asleep. Kimberly knew she wasn't going to get anything out of him, until he woke up. She ended up taking a nap herself, to make time pass. A few hours later, Jan woke them up for dinner. She had cooked spaghetti and meat balls. Jan had a tray with two plates of spaghetti, two dinner rolls,sliver wear, two small bottles of sprite, and two napkins. She laid the tray on the table and went down stairs. Tommy helped Kimberly get to the table, since she had to use crutches. When they sat down, she asked him what he was going to do about staying in at recess.

"I can leave my jacket in the car," gasped Tommy.

"You can't do that every day," warned Kimberly.

"I'll do it once a week," smirked Tommy.

"What are you going to the other four days?" questioned Kimberly.

"Our teacher says we if we aren't in our seats when they bell rings, we don't get recess that day. If we don't wear our athletic attire to school on the days we have gym, we don't get recess," explained Tommy."Our teacher makes us stay in if we don't raise our hand and get up out of our seat, we lose recess. And if we're caught running in the building, we loose recess."

"Are you sure it will work?" asked Kimberly.

"I'm hoping it will," answered Tommy.

"Or maybe you could just tell your teacher you want to stay in at recess with Kimberly," interrupted Jan.

Both of them turned around and Jan and James were standing outside the room.

"We've listened to your whole plan," confessed James. "We called you're teacher and said you wanted to stay in at recess with Kimberly."

"And what did she say?" demanded Tommy.

"She's going to let you," smiled Jan. "And I heard about the gymnastics team match."

"How'd they do?" asked Kimberly.

"They'd did okay," answered Jan. "Olivia was able to get them to the next match. "

"When will I be able to do gymnastics again?" questioned Kimberly.

"It's going to be awhile," confessed Jan. "I got a call from the doctor. He said he looked at the x-ray and he said he also noticed you twisted it and sprang it. Are you okay with it? I know gymnastics was a big deal to you."

"I'm fine with it," admitted Kimberly. "I'll get to spend more time with your son."

Tommy was stunned that Kimberly was okay with not being able to do gymnastics. She had done it for years and had several trophies. He also knew the other girls on the gymnastics team, would be ignoring her. The only reason why they paid any attention to her was because she was the best and she gotten them to the state matches. Since Kimberly was in a cast, Jan had to help her wash her hair and give her a sponge bath. After she got cleaned up, Jan helped her get into bed. Tommy said she could have his bed and he'd sleep on the cot. But, Kimberly wanted him to be with her. So, they both slept in his bed that night.

The following morning, Jan brought up blueberry muffins and orange juice to the room. Tommy helped her take a seat at the table.

"I'll carry your book bag and help you at lunch."

"I know the kids on the gymnastics team will not want me around. They practice their routines during recess."

"Kimberly, I've noticed. But, we can play together on the play ground at recess, when you're ankle heals."

He felt her hug him, after he said he'd play with her at recess. Even though he hated to be hugged, he didn't mind it when Kimberly hugged him. After they ate, Tommy opened his closet and got out khakis, a black tee shirt, and a green and white plaid flannel shirt. Kimberly got out a pair of black athletic pants and a pink tee shirt. He went into the bathroom to change and Kimberly changed in the bed room. Tommy walked back into the bedroom and saw she was dressed in her outfit.

" It's suppose to be really cold today, where's your coat?"

"Tommy, I don't have a coat. My mom can't afford to buy me one."

"Why?"

"My parents are having trouble. I think they may divorce. My mother pays most of the bills and buys the food for the refrigerator."

"What about your dad?"

"He wastes his income money."

"What do you mean?"

"She was barely about to afford my school supplies. She bought my designer jeans, overalls, fancy pink shirts, dresses, skirts, and pink outfits when they were on sale from 50% to 75% off."

"What are you going to do about this winter? How are you going to stay warm? What about when it rains?"

"Tommy, she looked for a light weight jacket, a coat and a rain coat for me. She couldn't afford either one of them. I'll make due."

His heart broke, when he heard his best friend tell him her secret. Tommy always had trouble expressing his feelings especially if it came to love. He couldn't stand for some to hug him or kiss him. As much as he hating hugging someone, he ended up hugging Kimberly. And he was able to stand having her hug him back. Tommy opened his closet and got out a denim jacket that he had out grown. He saw it would fit Kimberly perfectly and he handed her the jacket. She couldn't understand why he was giving it to her.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"I've out grown it and can't wear it anymore. I want you to stay warm and I am giving it you to keep."

Kimberly was very appreciative and she slipped the jacket on. Not very many kids had been nice to her, unless she was doing gymnastics. Jan and James came up stairs to help Kimberly get down stairs. James took her crutches down stairs. Then he came back upstairs and carried her down stairs. Jan was alone with Tommy.

"Why is she wearing your jacket?"

"Mom, her parents are having trouble."

"I know they are having trouble, they could be going through a divorce."

"She just said told me that her mom pays all the bills and provides the food for the table. Her father doesn't do anything to help."

"Why isn't she wearing her own jacket? Didn't she bring one?"

"No, she didn't. Her mother was barely able to afford her school supplies and she could had to buy all of Kimberly's school clothes on sale. But, she wasn't able to afford a lightweight jacket, a coat, or rain coat. So, I gave her my denim jacket that I out grew. Can she keep it?"

"Yes, she can keep it. I'd rather her get some use out of it, instead of it hanging in the closet."

"Mom, at Christmas I'd like for Santa to bring her a coat."

"When you write your letter to Santa, include that in the letter."

Tommy went down stairs and grabbed his book bag and he carried Kimberly's book bag to the car. When Jan dropped them off, Tommy grabbed both of their book bags, and helped Kimberly out of the car. She was really pleased that Tommy let Kimberly become his friend.


	4. Being Different

Tommy spent a lot of time with Kimberly at school, while she was recovering from having a broken ankle. The teacher let them get out board games such as Shoots and Ladders, Candy Land, and Checkers. Both of them enjoyed getting stay in because they were away from the other children who gave them trouble. Once she got the cast off her ankle, they had to on out side and play.

When they went outside for recess, the other kids got on the swings, monkey bars, and the slides. There were other swings, but they were broken. The only other place they had to go spend recess was under the jungle gym. The jungle gym was built out of wood and it bridges build out of wooden poles, it had huge steps that kids used to get to the top, and it had a slide. Since it was made out wood, most of the kids called it "The Brown Wooden Thing." It was a tall piece of play ground equipment and it had sand underneath it, if kids wanted to sit in the shade or play in the sand. However, not very many of the kids played under there, since they had more fun on the jungle gym. So, Kimberly and Tommy got to spend recess alone.

"I wish we could get on the swings, play on the monkey bars, or play on the brown wooden thing."

"Kimberly, do you remember what happened the last time we were up there?"

"One of the kids pushed me and I fell. I ended up getting a huge splinter in my hand and you had to pull it out."

"That's because I had my small first aide kit with me. It has tweezers, Band-Aids, wipes, and bandages in it. "

"Why do you even bring it?"

"Remember that Ms. Ruby got on a little boy getting hurt?"

"I remember that. He got trip over a ball and he skinned up his knee. She yelled at everyone and said she was tried of people being careless and people getting hurt."

"That's why I bring it. Some of the other aides are more stricter. Remember when someone wanted to play with us?"

It was a really cold day and they were huddled together and they were trying to stay warm. Both of them were sitting on the sand. It bothered Tommy because Kimberly didn't have a winter coat. She was just sitting there in black athletic pants, a pink hooded sweatshirt, and the denim jacket.

"Are you warm enough?"

"My pants are water proof and wind proof. And they have flannel lining in them. And the denim jacket that you gave me helps keep me warm."

Tommy saw her shiver a little bit. He slipped one of his arms out his coat and she moved closer too him. Tommy draped that part of his coat over her and he could tell she was a lot warmer.

"You told me at lunch you wanted to say something to me at recess."

"You know how half of the class goes to Ms. East's class for science and social studies . And half of the students in her class come to our classroom."

"I know, we're in the same group. You never said what happened?"

"Remember how us and a few other students didn't had to stay inside during the morning recess, because we didn't get down with a social studies assignment."

"Yeah, we were in the teacher's lounge. We weren't allowed to get up until we finished the work sheet. And we weren't allowed to get up to go to the bathroom."

"Tommy, please don't say anything."

"I promise. What happened?"

"I had to go to the bathroom really bad and I couldn't hold it. And I ended up wetting my pants in the teachers lounge."

"Where were you sitting?"

"At the table, where all the teachers sit at lunch and at break. I was scared I was going to get in trouble. But, my athletic pants were water proof so no one could tell I had an accident. When we went to lunch, I saw the puddle was still under chair. Ms. Ruby sat down in that chair and got wet. She was yelling at the teachers because her pants were wet. All of them thought she wet all over herself."

Both of them started laughing because they didn't like her. The only way, they'd go to her class is if she came and got them. They'd rather stay in Mrs. Yate's class (their kindergarten teacher), instead of going to 's speech class. They had her twice a week for a half an hour. Ms. Ruby was over bearing, picky, and was hard to deal with. She made class hard by asking them questions from a speech book and they had to give her an answer. But, they never could please her.

"You can't tell my parents or your parents this."

"Don't worry Kimberly, I won't."

"I also got the opportunity to go back to the gymnastics team. I'm not going back."

"You love gymnastics and won several matches!"

"But, I didn't have any friends on the team. They made fun of me because of the back ground I come from. The only time they were nice to me was during practice and when we had matches. Even though I liked doing gymnastics, it took up a lot of my time and didn't have a lot of time for anything else. That would mean I wouldn't get to spend much time with you."

"Do you know what you're giving up?"

"I do. I started doing gymnastics hoping that I'd make a friend. It never happened. I now have a friend and I'm happier now."

Even though Tommy didn't like to hug, he pulled Kimberly into a tight hug. He had actually grown to care about her and it didn't bother him his best friend was a girl.

"Kimberly, I never asked you this. But, why did they make fun of the back ground you came from."

My father isn't liked very much because he's violent and mean. He spends his money on beer, mountain dew, mellow yellow, cigarettes', tickets to go the college football and basket ball games, and he does a lot gambling."

"Is that why your parents are fighting?" And is that why your mother couldn't afford to buy you the things you need."

"That is the reason. And there's another reason why she can't afford things, even though she has a good paying job."

"What's that?"

"Jeff hits and beats up my mother. She's been in and out of the hospital over the last year. And she has to pay off medical bills. Last night she got beat up and is in serious condition. They don't know if she's going to make it."

When recess was over, the kids went back to their class room long enough to get their stuff. Tommy knew his best friend was upset and scared, when the bell rang he offered to hold her hand and she let him. James was parked out by the school since Jan called him and told him to come get the kids. Tommy noticed that his dad was there to pick them up. That meant something wasn't right because his dad didn't pick him up from school without telling him before he left the house.

Tommy feared that something was wrong with Caroline. When they got in the car, James told them Jan wasn't able to pick them up. He drove them home without saying anything. When they got home, Jan was on the couch. Jan took to Kimberly into the living room and James took Tommy up to his room.


	5. Changes for Kimberly

Tommy followed his dad upstairs to his room. When they got into the bedroom, James shut the door. He sat down by Tommy on his bed and told him that Caroline didn't make it. Jan was with Caroline, when she passed on.

"Your mother has had a hard day," informed James. "All of this happened this morning. After your mother got home from work, she had to go to take some papers to court. We are know Kimberly's guardians. As you know we're Kimberly's god parents and Caroline had in her will that she wanted us to be Kimberly's guardians if anything was to happen."

"Dad, she told me about this at recess," confessed Tommy. "What did you mean when you said that were Kimberly's guardians?"

"We're going to raise her," explained James. "She's going to live with us from now on."

"What happened to Jeff?" asked Tommy.

"Her father got life in prison," answered James. "He's already been in jail several times. When Caroline was out of town for so long, she was getting medical treatment. I need you to be strong for Kimberly. She's going to need you."

"Dad, can she stay with me in my room tonight?" asked Tommy.

"Yes, she's going to stay in here with you tonight," answered James. "We're going to go fix her up a room of her own, but we're going to let her stay with you at night as long as she needs to. Both of you are going to stay home from school the rest of the week. Mrs. Yates isn't going to make you make up anything that you miss this week. I called her around lunch today."

"Why am I staying out?" asked Tommy.

"We felt like Kimberly would do better if she had her best friend with her," answered James. "Your mother has her down stairs and is talking to her. She was explaining to her that she's going to live here and we love her and take care of her."

They saw the door open. Jan had carried Kimberly upstairs to Tommy's room. Tommy noticed Kimberly was a pink night gown and she looked like she had cried a lot. James walked over to Tommy's bed and pulled the covers down. Jan laid Kimberly down in the bed and Tommy crawled in bed next to her; he pulled her close to him. When James and Jan left the room, they noticed Kimberly had a weak smile on herself.

"How is she taking it?" asked James.

"She already knew about Caroline last night," explained Jan. "She said she told Tommy what happened at recess."

"So, she knew why Caroline called us to keep her last night?" asked James.

"Yes, she was the one who called me," confessed Jan. "She told me that Caroline wanted her to stay with us."

"That's why you went to work for a few hours," gasped James.

"Yes," answered Jan. "I got home, before the kids got up. After I took them to school, I went back to work."

"What type of shape was she in when you told her?" questioned James.

"She was a mess," explained Jan. "I reassured her that she'd be taken care of and I explained to her that we were now her guardians. I told her if there was anything I could do to help her out, to let me know."

"What did she want?" asked James.

"She wanted to be with Tommy," answered Jan. "I helped her change into a night gown and I carried her up the stairs to Tommy's room."

"She must really love our son," smiled James.

"She does," stated Jan. "She said that Tommy loves her and takes care of her at school. Kimberly even said that he was person she loved most in world and she always wanted him in her life."

"A few months ago, Tommy said he hated her. Now he loves hers," said James. "He says she's the only girl that he wants in his life. I'm so glad that they have each other."

"He told me that she's the only person besides us who understands him," added Jan.

They walked back into Tommy's room to see how Kimberly was doing. When they walked back in, Tommy had the pillows propped up and was stretched out. Kimberly was stretched out beside him and she looked like she was about to doze off.

"How is she?" asked Jan.

"She's hanging in there," answered Tommy. "I told her that she could stay in her with me tonight."

"Tomorrow, we are going to go over and get her stuff," informed Jan. "And take it up to one of the two guest rooms."

"Mom, she just said she didn't have a lot over there," explained Tommy. "She said she out grew most of her clothes and Jeff broke a lot of her toys. All she has over there is photo albums, year books, her pink bean bag chair, some pajamas, and some of her school clothes. And she only has a few stuffed animals. That's just about it. "

"We'll go over there tomorrow and get her stuff," answered Jan. "We can sell all off the clothes that she's out grown and buy her some clothes that will fit her. There was some of Caroline's stuff that she wanted me to have and she said where it was."

"I've out grown 75% of my clothes," admitted Kimberly. "The only clothes that I can still wear are a pair of overalls, a few pairs of jeans, some white turtle necks, some pink turtle necks, a five pairs of black jogging pants, two pairs of pink jogging pants, five pink jogging suits, two black jogging suits, a pink, black, and white jogging suit, some pink tee shirts, and some white tee shirts. Jeff destroyed my doll house, all my barbies, and all of my other toys. He did all of that last night."

"What about your bed, pillows, sheets, and bed spread?" asked Jan.

"I've sleeping on air mattress every night with sleeping bag and a pillow," confessed Kimberly. "I out grew my other bed two years ago. That was about the time my parents had trouble. That was all my mom could afford to get me to sleep on every night."

"Caroline left Kimberly a trust fund of money she had been saving," Jan and whispered to James. "But, she can get into it until she's older."

"We've got two children to support now," stated James.

"We'll manage," reassured Jan. "I'm taking her shopping tomorrow. I'm going to buy her a winter coat, a rain coat, a jacket, more clothes, some toys, and some bed room supplies."

"Jan, when we bought Tommy's bunk bed, we never used the top bunk or the mattress," reminded James. "They are in the basement. I'll bring them up and switch out the queen bed. The dresser, the night stand, and the closet is empty. We can go on and start putting her stuff in the closet."

"I'm in charged of Caroline's funeral arrangements," informed Jan. "I didn't want Kimberly to have to make all of those arrangements. She's already scared about having to go back over there to get her stuff. Tommy agreed to go with her and she agreed to go long enough to get her stuff."

Jan and James, wanted to make the transition for Kimberly to go as smooth as it possibly could. They already knew that they were going to have to cloth two children, buy Christmas for two children, have a birthday party for two children, feed two children, etc.


	6. Changes for the Oliver Family

The following morning, Jan and James took Kimberly and Tommy over to Caroline's house to get Kimberly's stuff. When they went in, there was broken glass from lamps, plates, dishes, and windows. Jeff had destroyed all of the furniture in house. Tommy went up with Kimberly to her room to get her stuff. Her photo albums, kindergarten year book, and first grade year book was still on the book case; as well as her photo albums. He opened the closet and saw her stuffed crane, her pink teddy bear, and her stuffed animals (a pink teddy bear, pterodactyl ,stegosaurs, sauolophus and crane)." were still in mint condition. Tommy helped Kimberly empty dresser drawers with her undergarments, socks, hair supplies, and hair brush. Most the clothes that Kimberly could wear was shredded. All that they could take was a four pairs of pajamas, two night gowns, her jeans, her solid pink tee shirts, her two pair of overalls, and her pink, white, and her pink, black, and white jogging suit. Every thing else was damaged.

"I'm going to take all of the clothes that you've out grown and your gymnastics clothes to the second hand shop to the mall," explained Jan. "Since I'm selling all of these clothes, I'll get money that will help us buy Kimberly some new clothes, toys, shoes, winter boots, a coat, a jacket, a rain coat, and bedding supplies for her room."

James had a large duffle bag and he had packed up Caroline's year books, all of her photo albums, and all her jewelry, since Caroline stated in the will all of that went to Kimberly and Jan. They even took the pictures that were displayed with them. Once they had everything, they left the house. James took Kimberly's stuffed toys and clothes into the house.

Meanwhile, Jan took sold all of the gymnastics clothes and all of the clothes that Kimberly outgrew to the second hand store. And she got a big sum of money for them. Jan had also cashed a CD at the bank to get some money and she had some money that she had saved. After she got Kimberly's clothes, some toys, and bedding supplies, she was taking both of them Christmas and birthday shopping. Tommy had asked Jan if they could have joint birthday party and she was up for the idea.

She took Kimberly and Tommy to clothing store for them to buy some clothes. Kimberly went to go look at the clothes that were on sale, since she was used to doing that for a long time.

"Kimberly, we're here to have fun," explained Jan. "I've got enough money to your stuff and yours and Tommy's Christmas and Birthday gifts."

Kimberly picked out a pink velour tracksuit, a fuchsia velour tracksuit, a bubble gum pink velour tracksuit, a light pink velour tracksuit, a coral pink velour tracksuit, a bright pink velour tracksuit, a solid pink sweater dress, a pink hooded sweater dress, a pink and white striped sweater dress, a pink cardigan sweater, a pink tee shirt with flowers and butterflies, a white top with pink flowers, a pink lacy top, a pink tee shirt with a cherry blossom, a pink tee shirt with hearts, some overalls with flowers on the knees, jeans with flowers on the knees, several pairs of designer jeans, pink floral leggings, pink leggings, several solid tee shirts, a denim jumper dress, denim skirts, denim shorts, pink denim shorts, pink tank tops, white tank tops, pink twill pants, pink gap sweat shirts, satin hooded sweatshirts, pink jogging suits, pink dresses, pink tennis shoes, a pair of pink winter boots, pink night gowns, pink pajamas, a pink coat, a pink rain coat, pink rain boots, black Mary Jane shoes, several packages of socks and undergarments, pink sweaters, several pairs of white stockings, and a pink house coat.

All Tommy bought jeans, khakis, several green, white, red, and black Henleys, flannel shirts, tee shirts, dinosaur pajamas, a pair black snow boots, a green sweater, a red sweater, and pajamas.

She took them to the sears to buy bedding supplies for Kimberly's room. They bought pink rugs, pink floral curtains, a pink floral comforter, pink floral pillow cases, pink sheets, and a pink bean bag chair. Finally, Jan took them to the toy store to buy birthday and Christmas gifts. Jan replaced all of Kimberly's favorite movies, that Tommy didn't already have. Both of them wanted a Nintendo 64 for Christmas. They wanted Rugrats Scavenger Hunt, Diddy Kong Racing, Pokémon Snap, Donkey Kong 64, and Pokémon Stadium. And they both asked for some games for Tommy's PlayStation. She bought Spyro 2 Ripto's Rage, Rugrats Studio Tour, Totally Angelica, Croc 2, Mary Kate and Ashley Magical Mystery Mall, Mary Kate and Ashley Crush Course, Digimon Rumble Arena, and Donald Duck going Quakers.

Tommy already knew that Jan was going to let Kimberly buy some toys. Kimberly didn't see anything that she really wanted other than a TV and VCR, since she didn't play with barbies and doll houses anymore. Instead she asked Jan if she could pick out something for Tommy instead.

"Jan, Tommy and I are watching Care Bears," explained Kimberly. "I'd like to get him one for now, one for Christmas, and one for our birthday."

She let Kimberly go pick three out. Kimberly picked out Bedtime bear because Tommy made her feel safe at night, held her at night so she could get a good night's sleep. She picked out Secret bear because Tommy was her best friend and she could tell him anything without it going any farther. And she picked out Loyal Heart Dog because he took care of her at school. She was unaware that Tommy did the same thing. He picked out Friend Bear because she was his best friend, Cheer Bear because she brought a lot of happiness into his life, and Cozy Heart Penguin because she accepted him and he didn't think much about being different as much as he did.

After they did all of their shopping, Jan helped Kimberly put the sheets on and comforter on the bed. Kimberly noticed that the room was now pink instead of purple and there a pink floral border at the very tip-top part of the wall. Jan and James hooked up the VCR and TV up in front of her room. Kimberly put her pink bean bag chair in front of her TV. James had even got a satellite for her room, so she could watch TV. They put her coat, jacket, rain coat, jeans, her velour tracksuits, overalls, sweaters, some of her fancy pink tee shirts and two sweater dresses in the closet. The closet was full of new clothes and Jan was holding the rest of the clothes back for Christmas and Birthday.

"Before I got make arrangements for Caroline, both you wanted to buy each other a care bear for now, Christmas, and birthday," stated Jan. "Which one of you wants to go first."

"I want to," answered Tommy.

He walked over to his sack and got out Friend Bear. After he took Friend Bear out of bag and handed her to Kimberly.

"I want you to have Friend Bear now, because you're my best friend," smiled Tommy.

Kimberly laid Friend Bear on her bed and went to her sack. She got out Secret Bear and she handed him to Tommy.

"I want you to have Secret Bear now because he's Friend Bear's best friend," said Kimberly. "And because you're my best friend and I can tell you anything without it going any further."

Jan went out and got her camera and took a picture with them and their care bears. Then she left the room and left the house to make arrangements for Caroline. Kimberly laid Friend Bear on her quilt rack, along with the pink teddy bear, pterodactyl, stegosaurs, saulophus, and crane.

Tommy took Secret Bear back to his room and put him on the his shelf with his stuffed brachiosaurs, stegosaurs, saulophus, dragon, white tiger, and falcon. They both laid down on his bed to take a nap. She snuggled up next to Tommy and he held her in his arms. He knew his life was about to change. Since Kimberly didn't have Caroline anymore, he was going to have to give her extra love and protection. He'd especially have to give her a listening ear, since she talked to him more than she did anyone else.

"I'm beginning to really like your parents. You said you were once adopted."

"I don't remember anything about my birthparents or brother. I was only a baby, when I was adopted. They'll love you just as much as I do."

Tommy's face turned red when he revealed that he loved Kimberly. However, it thrilled Kimberly.

"You said you like me!"

"All I said was that my parents will love you just as much as me. I didn't come out and say that I love you."

"You just did!"

She wrapped her arms around Tommy's neck and snuggled up next to him.

"In the future, I want to be your girl friend."

"I don't like any of the girls in our class or grade, other than you. I want you to be my girl friend in the future."

"Does that mean, we could end up marrying?!"

"Possibly, I hope that I end up marrying you."

 **A Few Days Later**

James and Tommy were glad the Caroline's funeral was over. It was really hard on Jan and Kimberly. Once the funeral was over, Kimberly realized that she wouldn't see Caroline again. She didn't cry until Jan and James let her and Tommy go up to her bedroom to have some alone time. Tommy just held her in his arms and let her cry. He never noticed how much she cared about the people in her life, until she talked about how much Caroline meant to he and how much he meant to her.


	7. Adjusting

It took both of the kids awhile to adjust to living in the same house. Tommy had to learn that he wasn't going to get undivided attention, like he was used to getting. He wasn't going to get as much for Christmas and Birthday, since Jan and James had to buy presents for both children. Kimberly had to adjust to living in a new house, having more than she did, living with Tommy and his family, not having to only buy things that were on sale, knowing that James and Jan loved her as much as they did Tommy, and learning that Jeff wasn't going to come around.

She still had a close relationship Tommy. They still considered they other one as their best friend, instead of a sibling. Mainly because Kimberly knew her family and Tommy was adopted. School was still the same, they still stay together all the time since the kids didn't associate with them. Most of the kids considered Tommy odd because he was into karate and his best friend was girl and she lived with him now. Kimberly had it a little easier since her father wasn't around and she could afford things that the other girls had. She could've had friends if she wanted. But, the other girls told her the only way they'd be friends with her was if she quit being Tommy's friend and that was something she wouldn't do.

 **That Summer**

Before school let out, Jan requested that both Tommy and Kimberly were put in the same class. The principal reassured her that it would happen. Since they didn't have any other friends, Jan took them to the water park, the fair, and to the zoo. She took them to the beach once or twice a week. The rest of the time, they spent time playing video games, swimming in the inflatable pool, and hanging out in Tommy's tree house. Their summer went by quick and it was time to go school clothes shopping. Both of them got in the same class, which they loved. But, they didn't like the teacher they'd be getting. It was Ms. Ruby, who they had for speech. She decided to take a regular education class room.

"Mom, can you move us to a different classroom?" asked Tommy.

"Tommy, I requested that you both got in the same class," reminded Jan. "The principal promised me that he'd make sure of it."

"Request we get another teacher," asked Kimberly.

"If I did that, I may not be able to keep you in the same class," answered Jan.

"Your mom does have a point," explained Kimberly. "I'd rather be with in the same class with you and have Mrs. Ruby. Instead of being in a classroom without you."

Jan got a list of school supplies and took them school clothes shopping. She noticed on the school supplies list, that girls needed a one piece swimsuit and the boys needed a pair of swimming trunks for PE.

"It looks like you'll be getting swimming lessons this year in PE," stated Jan.

"It says since swimming is new this year, all student have to have a swimming buddy and students are allowed to pick. And both students have to have a signature on the form from a parents, saying they are aware of who their child paired up with."

Kimberly ran over to Tommy and threw her arms around him in the middle of the clothing store. He got a lot of stares from other children who were with parents doing school clothes shopping.

"Why are you in hugging me in public?" questioned Tommy.

Kimberly noticed that most of kids in the store was in there class.

"NO ONE CAN TEAM UP WITH TOMMY FOR SWIMMING!" shouted Kimberly. "HE HAS ALREADY TEAMED UP WITH ME!"

Tommy's face turned red from embarrassment. All of the kids were laughing and saying Tommy had a girl friend.

"Mom why did she do that?" asked Tommy.

"I wanted to make sure no one paired up with you," interrupted Kimberly.

Tommy would've liked to have said that he didn't like her embarrassing him like that. But, Jan had told him when Kimberly lost her mother to go easy on her and she needed a friend who would be there for her. Jan also explained to Tommy that Kimberly feared that other people that she loved would go off and leave her too, especially him.

"I've already signed the form and sent it back to the PE teacher," declared Jan. "She was fine with you pairing up with him."

Jan bought all of Tommy's gym clothes in green and Kimberly's gym clothes in pink. However, she had to buy both of their swimsuits in pink since most of the swim wear was picked over.

"Mom, couldn't you have bought my swimming trunks in another color?" asked Tommy. "Boys don't wear pink."

"Tommy, I've seen boys and even grown men wear pink swim wear," reassured Jan. "I promise you it isn't nothing unusual."

"They'll make fun of me," warned Tommy.

"No, they won't," promised Kimberly. "I won't let them."

She hugged him again in the middle of the store. Once again he got stares from all of kids in the store. Jan quickly got them into another clothing store before Tommy lost his temper. She let them pick out their school clothes. Tommy got the usual khakis, jeans, tee shirts, sweatshirts, Henley's, flannel shirts, and sweaters. Kimberly got fancy pink pink skirts, pink and white crop tops, pink and white halter tops, designer jeans, fancy pink tee shirt, pink sweaters, pink sweater dresses, pink velour tracksuits and overalls.

 **Shortly After School Started**

At 2:30, Jan went to school to pick up Kimberly and Tommy from school. She waited in her car for the next few 15 minutes. At 2:44, she heard the bell ring and children were walking out of school. She saw a tall little boy with his hair pulled back dressed in khakis and green tee shirt. The little girl that was with him was wearing a pair of overalls and a pink tee shirt. She was wearing her hair loose. Both of them were holding hands and she immediately knew that is Kimberly and Tommy; because they always held hands walking into school in the morning and in the afternoons when school let out. Tommy opened the car door and Kimberly got in, then he followed her and shut the door.

"How was school?" asked Jan. " Who did you sit with in class, who did you play with at recess, and who did you eat lunch with?"

" Kimberly and I chose to sit together," explained Tommy. "We ate lunch together and played together at recess."

"We're even sharing a locker," added Kimberly.

"The food is better than it was last year," informed Tommy. "They have more to choose from. I got Mexican food and Tommy got Italian food."

"How do you like third grade?" asked Jan.

"We don't like school," answered Tommy. "The only thing that I like about school is the fact that Kimberly got in the same class again."

"Did you get the new Land Before Time movie?" asked Kimberly.

"Yes, I got the fifth Land Before Time movie," informed Jan. "It's the Mysterious Island. I will let you watch it, when we get home."

"After we watch the movie, we can watch the animal channel," suggested Tommy. "Today, they are covering falcons, cranes, and white tigers."

" What are we going to do this weekend?" asked Kimberly.

"Play Spyro the Dragon," smiled Tommy. "I love that game."

"I like playing Spyro, he is a cute purple dragon," said Kimberly. "But, you like dragons better than I do; but, we are also going to play Mary Kate and Ashley Magical Mystery Mall."

"It's the game with the fashion show, making the music video, working in the food court in the mall, taking pictures, and snow boarding," added Tommy. " Kimberly likes to sing during the music video and she loves the fashion show game. My favorite game in that entire game is the snow boarding race."

"Do you have home work?" asked Jan.

"We have science homework, " admitted Tommy. "We're studying dinosaurs. Our teacher has given us a work sheet with a Triceratops, Pterodactyl, Stegosaurs, Brontosaurus, Saurolophus,Tyrannosaurus Rex, Saber tooth Tiger, a Mastodon, and Oviraptor. The we have to draw three of our favorite dinosaurs. We also have to color the dinosaurs."

"Can we do the homework in the living room so we can watch the movie?" asked Kimberly.

"Yes," replied Jan. "But, do your homework. I don't want you to forget to do it."

When they got home, Jan put the land before time movie in the VCR. Tommy and Kimberly got out their homework and started doing their homework. They labeled all of the dinosaurs correctly. Then they colored their dinosaurs. Tommy colored the stegosaurs and saurolophus green, the triceratops dark yellow, the brontosaurus and the mastodon brown, the tyrannosaurs red, the saber tooth tiger a dark yellow, the pterodactyl red, and the oviraptor green. Kimberly colored her stegosaurs and the saurolophus green, the triceratops and saber tooth tiger yellow, the brontosaurus and the mastodon brown, the tyrannosaurus purple, and she colored they oviraptor and the pterodactyl pink. Both of them drew their favorite three dinosaurs. Tommy drew a brontosaurus, a stegosaurs, and a saurolophus. Kimberly drew a pterodactyl, a stegosaurs, and a saurolophus.

Jan walked in the living room and saw their drawings. She saw they both drew two of the same dinosaurs. And she noticed that Kimberly drew a pterdodactyl, and Tommy drew a brontosaurus.

"So, those are your favorite dinosaurs?" asked Jan.

"The reason why my most favorite dinosaurs is the brontosaurs is because it has a long neck and it can things that others miss seeing. And in the land before time, Little foot wanted to be friends with other types of dinosaurs," explained Tommy. "I drew the stegosaur and the saurolophus because it reminds me of Spike and Ducky off of the land before time. Spike was the last dinosaur to join Littlefoot and his friends.I like the stegosaur because I like the spikes that it has on its back. I also like Spike from land before time because he's quiet and doesn't talk with other people, just like me and Kimberly. He was adopted like me and he is doesn't hold a lot of conversations with people. He is a quiet dinosaur, when he's around others. I drew the saurolophus because Spike was adopted by Ducky's family, like we took Kimberly in. Ducky spends a lot of time with Spike and she is able to understand Spike. Those two remind me of Kimberly and myself."

"I drew the pterodactyl because I like Petrie. The pterodactyl can fly and see everything from the sky. It can see the whole picture, when the rest can't," explained Kimberly. I drew the saurolophus because I like how it swims around in the water. I also think Ducky from land before time is really cute. She's small like me and spends a lot of time with Spike. He's bigger than Ducky and he watches out for her. She also understands Spike and knows how to communicate with him. Ducky and Spike also remind me of Tommy and myself."

"We wrote that down on our papers," added Tommy. "We had to write down why we liked those dinosaurs. I colored my brontosaurus black and Kimberly colored her pterdodactyl pink. We both colored our stegosaurs and sauolophus green."

"I like your dinosaurs," smiled Mrs. Oliver. "I also like why you drew and why you like them. I'd like to make copy of your art work, before you turn it in."

They handed Jan their art work to Tommy's mom and she made two copies of the art work. Then she gave the assignments back to the children. Both of the children went up stairs to go play on Tommy's play station.

"Do you think we should tell your mom about what happened in science class?" asked Tommy.

"No, I don't want you mom to know that Mrs. Ruby complains about everyone in the class," stated Kimberly. "She said what I had to say about the different time periods during the prehistoric times was off topic."

"Well, there are different time periods during the prehistoric time periods," declared Tommy. "The dinosaurs no longer exist because they froze."

"You got called down too," mentioned Kimberly. "She said we were talking about a mastodon."

"Well, I said a mastodon looked like an elephant," added Tommy. "I said it had tusks. Then I asked why an elephant would have fur."

"You were told your comment was stupid and you knew the answer," replied Kimberly. "You were told that the elephant an elephant was cover in fur it was because it was in the prehistoric times."

"But, she forgot to put us in a group for the zoo trip," informed Tommy.

"That means, you'll be the only person in my group!" gasped Kimberly.

"I like that," smiled Tommy. "I get to stay with my best friend all day."

"I'm your only friend," confirmed Kimberly. "Wonder which adult will look after us this time?"

"I can take care of you," promised Tommy. "We're almost ten."

"We'll be ten on Valentines day," declared Kimberly.

"Kids it's time for dinner," shouted Jan. "Something came up so I had your father go to McDonald's and get you both nuggets and fries. He'll be keeping you tonight."

Tommy realized that they didn't have their permission form signed for the zoo trip. When they went down to dinner, Tommy had James sign their permission slips. They didn't want to miss the trip since they had just gotten falcons and cranes at the zoo.


	8. The Zoo

They took forms back to school on Monday morning. Both of them were excited about the zoo trip and the week went by slow. On Saturday morning Jan and James were both off, so they took them to the dinosaur museum. After church Caroline, took them to them to the mall to go shopping. Kimberly loved shopping a lot more than Tommy. Every time, she went shopping she often found a fancy pink outfit that she liked. This time she saw a pink and maroon plaid flannel shirt, jeans, and a pale pink tee let Tommy buy some clothes. He was more picky about clothes than Kimberly. All he picked out was jeans, a green tee shirt, and a green and white plaid flannel shirt. After she took them shopping, she took the kids to a movie.

That evening James ordered Pizza for them. After dinner, they wanted to play the Nintendo 64, but they had to go to Kimberly's room, since James wasn't able to hook it up in Tommy's room. Neither one of the kids minded it, because they weren't always stuck in room most of the time. When Tommy walked into Kimberly's play room, he noticed that she had pictures hanging in the room. They were of her and mom, and of her and Tommy.

Tommy took a seat next to her and noticed there was plenty of room for both of them to sit in the same chair. They turned on the Nintendo 64 and started playing Rugrats Scavenger Hunt. Both of them decided to play "Reptar Rally" first. One because was Reptar was a green dinosaur and they both liked dinosaurs. Two because Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil are turned into dinosaurs to and the resembled the form of Reptar. Three because they got to collect three different types of candy to win. Tommy chose to play as Tommy Pickles because Tommy's zone in the game an ice cream zone and because he liked the fact that one of the characters had the same first name as him. Kimberly chose to play as Lil because she had the chocolate milk zone and she liked chocolate milk; and the tiles in the chocolate milk zone was pink.

Both of them played the Reptar Rally game several times. They wanted to play it for a fifth time, but James told them that they needed to go get their baths and get ready for bed. They turned off the game and they both walked down the stairs to get a shower. Tommy let Kimberly take her shower first. After her shower, she changed into a pink, red, and white plaid pajama set. Tommy quickly took his shower and changed into a green, white, and black pajama set. Once they were ready for bed. It was suppose to storm that night so James let them lay sleeping bags in living room, because Kimberly was scared of storms. Jan took the couch that night and James took the recliner.

The children quickly drifted off to sleep and slept peacefully during the night. Early the next morning, Caroline woke both of them up and had them get ready for school. It was really cold that morning, so Caroline told them both to dress warm that morning. Kimberly put on her new pink and maroon plaid shirt, her pale pink tee shirt, and her new pair of jeans. Tommy put on his new pair of jeans, his green tee shirt and his green and white plaid flannel shirt.

Both of them went down for breakfast and Caroline had made blueberry pan cakes for the children. Tommy couldn't keep from asking James a question.

"Does mom still miss Caroline?" asked Tommy.

He noticed that it made Kimberly uncomfortable and it upset her. She quickly left the table and went and sat in the living room.

"Did I say something wrong?" questioned Tommy. "I didn't mean to upset her?"

"I know you didn't," responded Jan. "Right now, this is a subject that we shouldn't discuss around Kimberly."

"She is still grieving of Caroline," explained Jan. "Her parents were already in the process of getting a of the time a divorce happens if the husband and wife can't get along, one of them cheats on each other, if one of them is violent, if one of them is into drugs, or if one of them is gone a lot. I'm sure there are other reasons why people get divorces too. Kimberly has been blaming herself over this."

"It isn't her fault," stated Tommy. "I told her that."

"Still this is hard on her," explained Caroline.

They walked into the living room and Tommy took a seat next to his best friend. She gave Tommy an angry look.

"Tommy didn't mean to upset you," promised Jan. "He just said the wrong thing at the wrong time. During times like this you stick close to your best friend," stated Caroline.

"I still love you just the same," added Tommy.

He held out his hand and she took hold of it. All of them walked out to Jan's car and she drove them to school. When they got to school it was cloudy and it was looked like it could rain. Jan gave them money for lunch and to buy something from the gift shop; the children put on their rain coats, got out of the car and walked into school together. As usual, they were holding hands. Once the bell rang, their teacher had everyone get with their groups that they'd be on the field trip. Since Tommy and Kimberly were the only two in their group, they had to sit in the back of the bus. Neither one of them minded sitting in the back because they were able to have time to themselves.

When the bus stopped all of the students got with their chaperones and they took of in different directions. Tommy noticed that their teacher didn't assign them to a group, so he knew he would be responsible for taking care of himself and Kimberly. But, he also knew that they could go look at the falcons and cranes. And they could look at them as long as they wanted. Tommy grabbed a free zoo map and noticed they weren't too far from where the falcons and cranes were. He grabbed Kimberly's hand and he was in a hurry to go look at the falcons and cranes. Tommy noticed that the only type of falcons that the zoo had was a brown falcon.

"Where are we going?" asked Kimberly.

"To go look at the falcons and cranes," answered Tommy.

It didn't take too long to go look get to that section of the zoo. When they finally reached them, there wasn't many people in that area. Most of the people were there to see lions, tigers, monkey, hippos, zebras, rhinos, bears, apes, seals, and the other popular animals. Tommy noticed that there was a description on the falcon and the crane. He began to read it.

 _"The falcon and the crane are connected. They are also known as the_ _"Winged Lord" and the "Winged Lady", of the sky. The Falcon and the crane, share the same heart, soul, and heart, even though they have two separate falcon and the crane are soul mates and are bonded together. They may have power of their own, but they can also get part of their power from their soul mate. Both the falcon and the crane can look into each other's heart and mind."_

"I wonder where they got that information on?" asked Kimberly.

"I was wondering that too," answered Tommy. "We had to bring paper and pencil and write down facts that we learned about the animal that we enjoyed seeing the most. I brought some paper, pens, and pencils to write what we learned about the falcon and the crane."

"I already know a lot of information about the crane," smiled Kimberly. "I saw something on the discovery channel last night. I'll show you my paper."

She handed Tommy her paper and he began to read what she had listed.

 ** _1\. Give a Description on the animal._**

 _The crane is a bird with long legs and a long neck._

 ** _2\. How many species are there of this animal?_**

 _fifteen species_

 ** _3\. Where can the animal be found?_**

 _Every continent but Antarctica and South America_

 ** _4\. What do they eat?_**

 _They seeds, leaves, berries, fruits, bugs, snails, acorns, worms, tiny reptiles, birds, and mammals, while they are eating on land. They eat small fish, rhizomes, certain types of molluscs, emergent plans, and amphibians, while they are in the wetlands._

 ** _5\. What is their habitat?_**

 _wetlands and they need a lot of open space. Their nests are usually in an area with shallow wetlands. Some move to a grassland to feed their hatchlings and go back to the wetland when it gets dark. Some stay in the wetlands during the breeding season fulltime._

 ** _6\. Interesting information_**

 _The crane has beauty and mating dances. A cranes movement is recognized by its flexibility and grace. In the Greek and Roman myths frequently show the dance of cranes as love of happiness and a party of line. It was connected with Hephaestus and Apollo._

"You already did you homework before we got here?" asked Tommy.

"Yes, I did," replied Kimberly. "Did you?"

"I actually did it while I was looking at the brown falcon," stated Tommy. "I saw that it gave a description about it."

"Tommy handed Kimberly back her paper and handed her his paper to look at.

 ** _1\. Give a Description on the animal._**

 _The adult brown falcons are mostly 40 to 50 cm / 16 to 20 inches long. They have been found in light brown and dark brown forms. Its head is a reddish brown color with thin black lines with a light weight crown. It's chin is off-white. The wings are a spotted as reddish brown color and its quills are dark brown. A falcons beak is light blue or grey, and it has brown eyes._

 ** _2\. How many species are there of this animal?_**

 _It has 37_ species.

 ** _3\. Where can the animal be found?_**

 _Australia and New Guinea_

 ** _4\. What do they eat?_**

 _The brown falcon eats snakes, lizards, tiny birds, small types of mammals such as mice and young bunny rabbits, bugs, and a_ variety of invertebrates mainly beetles, caterpillars, crickets, and grasshoppers.

 ** _5\. What is their habitat?_**

 _They breed in an former nest that was used by another hawk species and they rare have a nest in dead branches._

 ** _6\. Interesting information_**

 _It makes a loud screech call uttered often. It lays two to five eggs at a time._

She handed Tommy back his paper.

"Is that all you could find?" asked Kimberly.

"Pretty much," answered Tommy. "Do you want to stay here and watch the falcons and the cranes."

Kimberly looked at her watch and noticed it was noon. They had lost track of time looking at the falcons and the cranes. Both of them had to meet with their class at 1:30. She quickly got Tommy's attention and they put their assignments in the pockets after Tommy copied down the description on the falcon and the crane for himself. Both of them went to the pizza stand and go a piece of pizza and a drink. After they finished their lunch, they went to the gift shop. Tommy bought a stuff falcon and Kimberly bought a stuffed crane. Once they checked out of the gift shop, they met with their class. Their classmates were talking about the adult that they were with buying them ice cream, something from the gift shop, and buying their lunch. When all of the students go on the bus, they handed their teacher their assignment.


	9. Gymnastics, Karate, and Swimming

Over the next few years, Tommy and Kimberly got back into gymnastics and karate. They took karate first since, the gymnastics sign up list only had one room for one more person. Kimberly still feared getting back on the balance beam, due to the prank someone pull on her. Tommy promised her that when they took gymnastics, he would get back on the balance beam with her. They stayed in karate until Kimberly got her black belt. Once both of them graduated from karate, they signed up for gymnastics. And they paired up together like the did for karate. Both of them did well in gymnastics and Kimberly was still really good. But, she didn't enjoy it as much as she did.

When they entered the 6th grade, there was new requirements. All students had to participate in an extra circular could take band, be a cheerleader, play basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, be in the art club, the music club, the computer club, the drama club, the dance club, the chess club, the pep-club, the cooking club, the science club, or take the Oliver's had a pool, Tommy and Kimberly signed up for swimming. Both of them took it during their 6th and 7th grade year. They even signed up to take it during their 8th grade year. At the beginning of their 8th grade year, Gunther Schmidt was hired as the PE teacher. He used to coach athletes for the Pan Global Games. He took over the swimming club, Coach Schmidt was very strict and wanted perfection. Everyone on the team had to buy three yellow tee shirts with a purple Angel Grove logo on the front, and three tracksuits (Their suits had to be purple. The pants had to have three gold horizontal stripes on each leg, and the jacket had to have three gold horizontal stripes on each sleeve. And the jacket had to have a gold angel grove logo on the front.) The girls had to buy three yellow racer back bikini tops and three pairs of yellow bikini hipster bottoms. Their swim top had to have a purple Angel Grove logo on the front. The boys had to buy three pairs yellow speedo swim briefs with the purple Angel Grove logo on the front. Everyone had to buy a pair of solid white Nike tennis shoes and they had to wear white socks. For some reason he expected everyone on the team to dressed like they were training for the Olympics.

Jan took them to Angel Grove clothing shop in the mall to buy their clothes for the swim team. Tommy was relieved that no one was in the store, when they were getting their clothes. He could still remember when Kimberly embarrassed him by announcing in clothing store that she was his swimming buddy. They had to choose a swimming buddy for the club. Whoever they choose would be the person that they practiced with and competed with during matches. Before Jan bought the clothes, she made it clear to them that they had to try on their clothes, so she could make sure they had the right size.

Both of them got their tracksuits, tee shirts, and their white tennis shoes. After they got their clothes, they went into the dressing room to try their clothes on. Tommy quickly striped out of his clothes and tried his speedo briefs on. He looked in the mirror and he hated the way he looked. Tommy felt like he was wearing underwear instead of a swimsuit. It showed his really figure and he stood in front of the mirror for a long time. He knew when other kids saw him in the swim briefs, they'd see that he was tall, muscular, and had big feet.

Meanwhile, Kimberly was standing in the mirror looking at herself. She felt like she was also wearing underwear instead of swim wear. Even though she had a swim top on, it showed more of her figure, than it would've if she was in a one piece suit. She knew when they other kids saw her, they'd notice that she was skinny, had tiny shoulders, she was petite, and her feet were small.

Jan was standing outside the dressing rooms and had been waiting for over five minutes. She was tired of waiting and she knocked on both doors.

"You've had plenty of time to get dressed," declared Jan. "Please step outside and let me see how it fits."

"Mom, it looks like I'm only in underwear," answered Tommy.

"That's how I look too," replied Kimberly.

"Everyone on the team will be wearing the same thing," remarked Jan. "Please step outside."

Both of them stepped outside and let Jan see what they looked like.

"Both of you look fine," reassured Jan. "And Tommy you don't look like you are wearing underwear."

"Yes, he does," said a familiar voice.

They turned around and saw a skin boy with black hair and a boy with shoulder length dark blond hair. It was Bulk and Skull. They were in Tommy and Kimberly's grade. Even though Tommy and Kimberly had the same schedule all day, they had Bulk and Skull in their classes all day. Skull had a huge crush on Kimberly.

"What are you doing here?" asked Tommy. "You didn't sign up."

"We saw Kimberly was taking swimming and I wanted to see if she had a good figure," smiled Skull. "She looks pretty and she's got a nice figure."

"But, what do you think about Tommy?" asked Bulk.

"He looks like he's standing in the middle of the store in nothing, but his underwear," laughed Skull. "He's taller than he actually looks, he's muscular, and he has big feet?"

"How tall are you? How did you get to look so muscular? What made you decide to get muscular?" questioned Bulk. "And what size shoe does he wear?"

"I bet he's 10 feet tall! I bet he started weight lifting and lifting heavy objects, so he could look like Hercules!" laughed Skull. "I bet his feet are as big as Ronald McDonald's. He probably wears a size 50!"

"Skull, his feet are as big as Ronald McDonald's," remarked Bulk. "He wears a 29 triple E size shoe like Ronald McDonald."

Both of them were laughing really hard. Jan was stunned and she had her cell phone out calling Bulk's dad and Skull's mom, since she had their phone numbers. Bulk's dad was a pharmacists and worked in the pharmacy with James. Skull's mom was the sectary at the hospital. Kimberly was normally afraid to stand up to bully's who made fun of her. But, Tommy was another story. She couldn't stand to hear anyone make fun of him.

"DON'T YOU EVER INSULT MY BEST FRIEND AGAIN!" yelled Kimberly.

"Looks like Tommy has a girl friend!" laughed Skull. "Is it you?"

"Yes,I'm his girl friend!" smiled Kimberly. "And you can't date me! If you don't stop insulting him, I'll slap you both!"

Bulk and Skull got scared and left the store. Tommy was stunned to see his best friend loose her temper like that. But, at the same time, he was relieved that she didn't slap them. If she did, Jan would punish her. Jan got off the phone and walked back over to where they were standing.

"Kimberly did you know that if you actually hit one of them, their parents could've pressed charges against us?" asked Jan.

"No," answered Kimberly.

"I'm going to let go with a warning," warned Jan. "If you hit or even threaten to slap someone, you're going to be in trouble with me and James."

"It won't happen again," promised Kimberly.

"Good," answered Jan. "I think your suits fit you both perfectly. Go back into the dressing room and try on your tee shirt and tracksuit."

Tommy and Kimberly went back into the dressing room to change into their tracksuits. Tommy hated the clothes that they had to wear. He hated athletic clothes and would've preferred to have wore sweat pants instead of the tracksuit. And would've preferred to wear swimming trunks instead of a speedo.

Jan knocked on the door again.

"Tommy, you've had plenty of time to change," stated Jan. "You need to step outside."

Tommy slipped on the jacket and stepped outside. He noticed Kimberly was already standing outside waiting for him.

Both of your outfits both fit you nicely," said Jan. "I'm going to go pay for our clothes. Did you get your shoes?"

"Yes, I go both of ours," answered Kimberly.

"Did you get a 7.5 and a 10?" asked Jan.

"Yes, I did," replied Kimberly.

Both of them changed back into their regular clothes and Jan paid for their clothes and shoes. They had swimming after school on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On those days, Tommy and Kimberly had to wear their purple tracksuits and yellow tee shirts. They were required to wear their swimsuits underneath their tracksuits.

Tommy instantly disliked Coach Schmidt. He knew a Gunther Schmidt who worked for Kimberly's dad at the textile warehouse in Angel Grove. And he looked a lot like the Gunther Schmidt that Tommy knew. Tommy noticed that Coach Schmidt paid more attention to him and especially Kimberly. That was something that really worried him. He feared that Coach Schmidt took the job at the school to get close to Kimberly. But, he never told anyone because he feared that no one would belief him. However, Tommy knew karate and he'd be able to take on Gunther Schmidt if he had to. When fall break was over Tommy was relieved. They wouldn't swim meets until after spring break, since the they only had matches outside. And the school's indoor pool was only used for PE classes only. However, Coach Schmidt surprised Tommy. He called them into his office, after their 2nd period PE class.

"I'd like to talk to you during the morning break," stated Coach Schmidt.

"What do you want to talk to us about?" questioned Kimberly.

"Both of you are two of the best athletes that I've seen," explained Coach Schmidt. "You are the best swimmers on the team, I've heard you both have black belts in karate, and you were both good in gymnastics. They are having a state tournament after spring break for gymnastics, karate, and swimming. I've been asked to select the some athletes to train."

"I'd love the offer, but I don't feel comfortable competing against Tommy," answered Kimberly.

"And I don't want to compete against Kimberly," added Tommy.

"They have a boys tournament and a girls tournament," explained Coach Schmidt. "These tournaments are for each state to find the best athlete to compete in the Pan Global Games. The athletes who qualify go to a training facility in Florida to train full time. All of their needs are paid for."

"I've always dreamed to compete in the Pan Global Games," gasped Kimberly. "But, I can't go off and leave Tommy."

"And I wouldn't go off and leave her behind either," continued Tommy.

"Why is this such a big deal?" asked Coach Schmidt. "You have other people in your life and you don't need to put all your eggs in one basket."

"Actually, we don't have any other friends besides each other, "informed Kimberly. "Up until 2nd grade, neither one had any friends. We've been best friends ever since."

"She lost her mother that year and her father didn't want her. My mom and her mom were best friends," explained Tommy. "Since my parents were her godparents they became her guardians."

"I see where you are both coming from," replied Coach Schmidt. "They do have tournaments for two people to compete in."

"Meaning Tommy and I compete together as a team?" asked Kimberly.

"That's what I'm talking about," smiled Coach Schmidt. "You both would compete together, you'd get the same score, you'd both have your names on a trophy and medal. When they have these types of tournaments, both teammates have to be good enough to go train for the Pan Global Games, other wise they can't go."

"If Kimberly and I were both good enough and made it into the Pan Global Games, we'd both move to Florida, be at the same training facility and train together?" questioned Tommy.

"Yes, that is how it would be," answered Coach Schmidt. "But, we can't let anyone else on the team know that I chose you two. Only the principal and your parents are allowed to know."

"What do we wear on days we have practice?" asked Kimberly.

"What ever you want," answered Coach Schmidt. "Just buy the same type of swim wear in a different color, so no one knows I'm training you."

Coach Schmidt sent a form home to James and Jan. They were both thrilled and they signed the form. Kimberly purchased three pink race back bikini tops and three pairs of pink bikini hipster bottoms. Tommy purchased three pairs of green speedo Schmidt got permission to use the school's pool. Coach Schmidt had them practice three days a week. He had them do a lot of synchronized swimming and diving; and the normal swimming routines that they did in the swim club. When the whole team practiced, Tommy and Kimberly practiced every day. They practiced with the team three days a week and alone twice a week.

Tommy still didn't trust Coach Schmidt. Especially after he started to be stricter on Kimberly. He made her dive backwards on the diving board, when he decided they were going to use the diving board. The old PE teacher only had the team for the kids to have fun, learn, to swim, and compete in a few matches. When it got closer the first match of the spring semester, Tommy talked to James in private.

"I just don't trust this Gunther Schmidt," informed Tommy. "Kim didn't even know how to dive and he made her dive backwards, the first time she was on the diving board. She could have been hurt."

"Kimberly says she is enjoying it," answered James.

"But, this person looks like the same person who worked for Jeff," declared Tommy. "He visited Jeff a few times, when I was playing over at Kimberly's house."

"I understand your fears and concerns," replied James. "Talk to Kimberly how you feel."

"I've tried," confessed Tommy. "She doesn't remember him."

"She had a lot going on at the time," explained James. "She's not going to remember him. But, she has nothing to worry about."

"Dad, why do think that?" gasped Tommy.

"She will have you with her," said James. "You are her best friend in the entire world. She says when she's with you, she feels safe."

"But, she knows I'm going to protect her," remarked Tommy.

"That's what I'm saying," answered James. "She has you and she knows you won't let no one hurt her."

 **The Next Morning**

Tommy woke up early that morning, since they had to be at school early. Coach Schmidt wanted them to practice, until they left school. Tommy took a shower, brushed his teeth, and put his purple Angel Grove tracksuit and yellow tee shirt. His duffle bag was packed for them to go to the tournament. Kimberly got up shortly after he did. She took her shower, brushed her teeth, and she also put on her purple Angel Grove tracksuit and yellow tee shirt. Kimberly forgot to pack her bag. So, Tommy helped her quickly pack her bag. After they ate breakfast, Jan drove them to school. They took their duffle bags to Coach Schmidt's office. All of the other kids had their bags already in there.

"Ms. Hart, are you ready to practice?" asked Coach Schmidt.

"Sure," answered Kimberly. "I know we are practicing until after school."

"We are," answered Coach Schmidt. "I've got a sub for the day and the rest of the week."

"Do, you still want me to practice," interrupted Tommy.

"No, just Ms. Hart," answered Coach Schmidt.

"What about Tommy?" questioned Kimberly. "You said I couldn't train without him, since it took two people to do those stunts."

"There are stunts that you can perform only," lied Coach Schmidt. "I found out at the last minute."

"They don't change the rules at the last minute," smiled Tommy. "You are lying."

"Mr. Oliver, you never accuse a teacher of lying ," gasped Coach Schmidt. "Do you have any proof?"

"You said the rules were changed at the last minute," stated Tommy. "They never do that."

"They did this time," fibbed Coach Schmidt.

"Do you have any proof," asked Tommy.

"They put it in the pamphlet," said Coach Schmidt, as he handed it to Tommy.

Tommy looked at the paper and noticed that it was written red crayon and it had the date.

"This was written in crayon," stated Tommy, as he showed it to Kimberly. "You changed them yourself. Why did you do it?"

"I wanted her to practice diving alone," replied Coach Schmidt.

"She's not ready to dive alone," declared Tommy. "She needs me with her. I'm a better diver."

"Coach Schmidt, there's something you should know about Tommy," smirked Kimberly.

"What?" Coach Schmidt.

"I never go anywhere without my best friend," smiled Tommy. "And I don't anything without her."


	10. The Big L Word

"Maybe it is best if you do train together," smirked Coach Schmidt. "Please go change and report back here."

Both of them headed to their locker rooms to change; Kimberly changed into her two piece suit and Tommy changed into his speedo swim briefs. After they changed they went back into Coach Schmidt's office.

"Just take a seat on the floor," stated Coach Schmidt.

Tommy and Kimberly took a seat on the floor. Coach Schmidt went into his closet and put on a gas mask, got out a clear purple body bag and some spray. Once he had everything that he need, he came out of the closet. Kimberly nearly freaked when she saw him come out of the closet. She threw both of her arms around Tommy's waist. Coach Schmidt sprayed some sleeping gas in the room that caused them to fall asleep.

His bag had two holes for their heads to go through and it unzipped all the way around. He put their heads through the two holds at the top of the bag. Then he laid them down on floor. He noticed the sack was covering the rest of their bodies so he zipped the bag minutes later, Tommy woke up and noticed he was laying on his back, he was on the floor, and he was in a clear plastic purple sack. Kimberly was laying next to him. Both of them noticed that the sack covered everything from the neck down. Coach Tommy quickly wrapped his pulled Kimberly close to him and he wrapped arm around her shoulder. He felt Kimberly wrap an arm around his waist. Coach Schmidt got a vacuum and sucked all of the air out. The sack was stuck to their bodies and both of them were stiff. All they could move was their heads.

"Tommy, I really wanted her to go train for the Pan Global Games," explained Coach Schmidt. "And without you! Jeff never liked you."

"How did you know Jeff?" asked Kimberly.

"He was your father," answered Coach Schmidt. "And a friend of mine. After Caroline passed, he got went to the electric chair because he planned it. I never liked that Oliver boy, from the minute that I saw him. I saw him several times, when you both were children."

"Aren't we suppose to be practicing?" interrupted Kimberly.

"There was no such thing as getting the two best swimmers on the team a chance to compete alone," confessed Coach Schmidt. "It was a plan I came up with to lure you away from everyone, especially Tommy. I wanted to gain your trust."

"I never trusted you from the beginning," revealed Tommy.

"I always knew that," answered Coach Schmidt. "I feared you'd ruin everything. But, you've actually came in handy."

"How?" asked Tommy.

"I don't have to worry about you going to the principal and ratting me out," smiled Coach Schmidt. "You'll be with her."

"Where are you going to do?" demanded Tommy.

"They started selling body pillows that look like plush toys at the book store," informed Coach Schmidt. "They have all most anything you can think of."

"What's so special about them?" asked Tommy.

"People can get in them," confirmed Coach Schmidt. "And I'm going to let you both get in this one. This one was a little big and it will hold both of you."

He put both of them inside a carrot pillow and they fell to the bottom. Both of them were facing the front and could see out.

"Today, I was asked display these all over the school," grinned Coach Schmidt. "I'm going to hang this one near the Angel Grove Flag. It's got a hook on it and it supports up to 500 pounds."

Kimberly's head landed on Tommy's shoulder and he knew she fainted. He always knew she was scared of heights. Coach Schmidt took the pillow outside and hooked a metal clip on the back of the pillow. He took the Angel Grove school flag down and put the carrot pillow in its place. He also installed two magnets on the back of the pillow, so it would stick to the pole; and help support both Kimberly and Tommy's weight. Once they were hanging ten feet from the school's flag pole, he made sure the that rope was nice and tight, he left. But, he didn't bother to pick up the school flag.

A few minutes later, Kimberly woke up. She noticed that they were several feet off the ground. Tommy was relieved that the pillow buddy didn't have a zipper and they wouldn't have worry about the zipper coming unzipped.

"Tommy, how long have we been here?"

"I have no idea. I've been trying to enjoy the view, trying to forget about us being here. We can see the whole school, the park, the high school and its youth center, the mall, Angel Grove Elementary, and the park from here."

"How do you feel about missing the tournament?"

"I wouldn't have any fun without you and I'd rather be here with you. I'm sure someone will notice this carrot pillow hanging up here and will call the police."

It started to get windy and it started to pour down rain. Tommy also knew Kimberly was terrified of storms. The outside of the pillow was made of water resistant material, so they were able to stay warm and dry.

"Tommy, wonder how long that will be?"

"I'm hoping not too long? But, its going to be an uncomfortable moment, when we're found. I'm only in these speedo briefs. It feels like I've been running around school in nothing but my underwear."

"I fell the same way. Tommy, I feel like I've been running around schools in my bra and panties."

Even though it was pouring down rain, Tommy saw the swim club getting on the bus. Shortly after the bus was loaded, the bus took off.

"The bus just left."

"Early?!"

"Yes, they left early and school hasn't let out yet."

Even though Tommy was trying to be strong for his best friend he was really scared and worried. He wondered how long it would take someone to find them, he knew they would need food and water, and he realized everyone thought they were at the tournament. Tommy noticed that Kimberly had been quiet for a long time.

Instead of worry about getting down, she had other things on her mind. She was trying to sort out her feelings regarding to how she felt about Tommy. Kimberly still considered him her best friend. But, she had other feelings about him...feelings that he didn't know about...she was in love with him.

"Hey, Beautiful, are you okay?" Tommy asked in a worried voice. "You haven't said anything in a long time."

"I'm trying to sort things out," confessed Kimberly.

"What?" asked Tommy.

"Tommy, you've always been my best friend," started Kimberly. "But, something happened. Something I can't explain."

"What is it?" questioned Tommy.

"You wouldn't understand," responded Kimberly. "It's been wonderful and painful at the same time."

"I wouldn't stand what?" asked Tommy in impatience voice.

"Tommy, I've meet someone and I feel like I've found the person I belong with," Kimberly answered tearfully. "He's been wonderful, kind, and caring. I really love him."

"And you want to know if I feel the same way," smiled Tommy. "I've been waiting for you to tell me that you loved me."

"How long have you felt this way?" gasped Kimberly.

"Ever since you told Bulk and Skull off at the mall," answered Tommy. "And because you used to love to hug on me in public no matter where we were or who was around. I love you and want you to be my only girl friend."

 **That Night**

The street lights were on and the city of Angel Grove was lit up. A full moon was in the sky, the wind was blowing, and the rain had slacken down. Kimberly and Tommy were still inside the carrot body pillow and were thirsty and hungry.

"Wonder how much longer we'll be here?"

"I have no idea, Beautiful. We've been here for hours. I'm sure people have seen the carrot pillow on the flag pole. Someone's surely called the principal and/or the police by now."

"How long do you think it will be until we get down?"

"I don't know that either. I am hoping soon. It's starting to get cold, even thought we've got plastic sticking to us."

Kimberly laid her head on Tommy's shoulder.

"Hey, Beautiful, when you said that you loved me, why did you say it was also painful?"

"You didn't like me, until I got hurt on the balance beam."

"I thought I'd never like you. You always chased me on the playground since kindergarten."

"But, you finally gave into me."

"You stayed at my house for weeks. My mom made us sleep in the same room, eat together, play together, and watch TV together."

"The first day I was at your house, you turned on the TV and stretched out on our bed. I noticed there was room for one more person. But, when you noticed I was sitting on the bed, you pushed me off the bed."

"And you sat on the floor next to my bed. It stormed that night, you woke up scared, and you moved your sleeping cot next to my bed."

"You would've pushed me out of the bed."

"True, I would have."

"The next day, you let me up on your bed to watch TV. You even lifted me up on the bed. That night you let me sleep in your bed with you."

"I liked you then."

"You liked me enough to give me your denim jacket and stay in with me recess. And you played with me at recess, when I was able to go back to the play ground."

"We sat under the jungle gym most of the time because the swings and the monkey bars were taken. And you got a splinter in your hand."

"But, you pulled it out with tweezers, because you always carried that first aide kit all the time. When I didn't have a coat, you took it off and put it over both of our shoulders."

"You were cold and I didn't want you sick, I cared a lot about you."

"Tommy, you didn't know you were in love with me yet."

"We were only eight."

"When my mom passed, you took care of me. And let you went shopping with me to help me find clothes and toys. You even let me share my birthday with you."

"We have the same birthday, remember? We decided to have a joint party, where share they same cake and all of that good stuff."

Tommy began to noticed that Kimberly was falling asleep. He thought that it wouldn't hurt if he got some sleep too. Tommy laid his head on top of hers and fell asleep.

 **Oliver Household**

A tall man with blond hair was waiting for his wife to get home. He had seen a carrot hanging on the school's flag pole and the school's flag was on the ground. James knew something wasn't right. At 11:00 PM, he heard a car pull in the drive way. A woman with light brown hair walked through the door.

"How was work?" asked James.

"It was fine," answered Jan. "You're going to think I'm crazy when I say this."

"What happened?" questioned James.

"On my way home, I saw a big carrot hanging on the school's flag pole," explained Jan. "The flag was on the ground. I stopped by long enough to take a picture. I'm going to call the police."

"Jan, I've already called the police," informed James.

"You saw it too!?" gasped Jan.

"Yes, but I saw teacher take the Angel Grove Middle School flag down," stated James. "He put the carrot on the flag pole and left the flag on the ground. I pulled out of sight and was taking pictures on my cell phone.

"Show me the pictures!" demanded Jan.

James got out his phone and showed Jan the pictures. He could tell Jan was in shock.

"Jan, what's wrong?" asked James.

"That is the same man that worked with Jeff!" cried Jan. "His name is Gunther Schmidt."

"So, Tommy was telling me the truth," gasped James. "He was talking to me about not trusting this person. I didn't think it was the same man."

"Dr. Cranston talked to me at work this afternoon," informed Jan.

"That's Billy's father and Willie's uncle," gasped James. "I work with Dr. Cranston in the pharmacy. He said Willie called him from school telling him that the swim club left school early. He missed the bus and couldn't go to the tournament. Then his son Billy called him. Billy said that there were a lot body pillows and sleeping bags displayed all over the school. Billy thought there was something wrong, when he saw a carrot on the flag pole."

"When I talked to him, he said that he was leaving to go check something out at school," revealed Jan. "He said someone was going with him."

"That was me," answered James. "I was getting off and he asked if he could follow me how. And he explained about Billy calling. We went by the school and got out of sight and were taking pictures on our cell phones. Dr. Cranston said that he was calling Jenna Scott's husband Fred."

"Is that a police officer?" questioned Jan.

"Yeah, he's Jason Scott's mom," stated James. "His wife Jena is loan officer at the bank."

The phone rang, and Jan picked it up.

"Hello, this is Jan Oliver," answered Jan.

"Jan, this is Dr. Cranston," stated Dr. Cranston. "I've just talked with Fred Scott. James is needed at the police station. I'm already down here. I've been showing the pictures on my cell phone to the cops. After James and I took the pictures I went to Wal-Mart and hooked the cellphone into the photo machine; And I printed out the pictures. I've got several copies, if we need them."

"Okay, I'll have James come down there," said Jan. "I took pictures on my phone too."

"You'll need to take come too," informed Dr. Cranston.

"We'll be there, in ten minutes!" declared Jan.

She hung up the phone and told James they were needed at the police station. They got in James' car and went to the police station. When they got there, the principal, Willie (Dr. Cranston's 11 year old nephew), Billy (Dr. Cranston's 14 year old son), Dr. Cranston, and Fred Scott were all ready there. Jan and James saw the pictures laying on the table.

"Do, you have the pictures?" asked Fred.

"They are on my phone," answered James. "And Jan saw the carrot on the pole and took some pictures."

Fred got out a long cord and plugged it into his computer.

"Give me your phones," requested Fred." I can use this plug to print off pictures from cell phone."

The Oliver's hand over their cell phones and Fred plugged both cell phones into the computer and printed out the pictures.

"Gunther Schmidt has had several complaints about him this year from students," informed Fred. "Even my son has complained about him. I'm going to investigate the scene at the school. I think he may have put something in there. All of you can come."

 **What did you think of this chapter? Reviews are always appreciated. Most of you readers have probably noticed that I used Kimberly's break up letter as dialogue, instead of writing the letter. When I started this chapter, I wondered what would've happened Kimberly revealed her feelings to Tommy about how she really felt about him and wondered if he felt the same way about her.**


	11. Escape from the Carrot

The police, Officer Scott, Doctor Cranston, the Oliver's Willie, and Billy left the police station and headed to the school. It was still drizzling and the wind was picking up. Meanwhile, Kimberly and Tommy was still fast asleep. Tommy woke up, when he heard cars pull into the parking lot. When he woke up he saw people shining flash lights.

"Kimberly, wake up," urged Tommy.

"What's going on?" Kimberly asked in a sleepy voice.

"I think there are people here," informed Tommy. "I heard cars pull in and l see lights."

"Hopefully, people are here to get us down," answered Kimberly. "But we can't move, we've got plastic stuck to us. Someone is going to have to pull us out."

They heard another noise... someone was luring in them down slowly. As they got closer to the bottom, Tommy saw camera crews and a news reporter. That was something that he didn't expect. Finally they hit the bottom and people were shining flash lights.

"I think there is two people in there," stated a news reporter.

"Let me get a closer look," said the principal.

He walked over to the carrot and saw both Kimberly and Tommy laying inside the pillow.

"There are two people in there," informed the principal. "They are Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart."

"Can someone people get us out of here?" requested Tommy. "We're stuck together like glue."

Jan had some nurses equipment in James' car and she went got out a pair of succors.

"Can I have permission, to cut them out?" asked Jan.

"We've got pictures of the carrot," reassured Officer Scott. "You can cut them out."

Jan cut along right down the middle of the front of the carrot and folded the edges back. She noticed that both of them were in a clear plastic bag with zippers. The camera crew walked over to film them getting out of the bag. James and Jan unzipped the bag and noticed it was stuck to their skin. She had to poke holes in the bag and cut on it, to get them out.

"Tommy how did you get in there?!" demanded Jan.

"Coach Schmidt," answered Kimberly. "We were suppose to practice and he told us to go change into our swim wear. When we reported back, she got out this bag, spray, and a gas mask. He sprayed some sleeping gas and we fell asleep."

"And when we woke up, we were both in this bag," continued Tommy. "Then he sucked all of the air out the bag with a vacuum, put us in this body pillow, and hung us on the pole."

The camera crew turned to face the Oliver family.

"Mom can you get me some clothes?" asked Tommy. "I'd want to be on TV, wearing only speedo briefs."

"Tommy, I don't have anything with me," answered Jan. "Right now I just want to strangle Coach Schmidt!"

"On TV!?" gasped James.

"I don't care where I am!" yelled Jan. "I just want to strangle him."

"Jan, he's back," interrupted Kimberly. "The bus is pulling in."

"Now's my chance!" smiled Jan.

The bus stopped at the parking; kids were get carrying their duffle bags and getting off the bus. Parents were picking up their kids and Jan saw the police meet Coach Schmidt at the bus. They put hand cuffs on him and the camera crew started filming him. He tried to deny it, but principal and Police said they had pictures and caught him on camera.

"I turned the camera's off!" stated Coach Schmidt.

"You hit the wrong button," smiled the principal. "You hit sound and we were able to hear everything you said to the kids and everything they said to you."

"Why'd you do it?" asked a news reporter.

"Those kids were responsible for my friend Jeff getting the electric chair!" remarked Coach Schmidt. "They ruined the gymnastics studio we had. I had to sell the business to help pay for an attorney. And he lost and got the electric chair because he planned on murdering Caroline. He wrote the plan down on paper and forgot to dispose of them."

"I know I was there!" interrupted Jan. "That was they day, my husband and I got custody of her daughter."

"We didn't even get to finish the tournament," yelled Coach Schmidt. "They canceled it at the last minute."

"That was my doing," smiled Officer Scott. "The principal gave me permission to call and remove Angel Grove from the tournament."

"How long were you going to leave them there?" demanded Jan.

"Just for a few days," answered Coach Schmidt. "I promised Jeff that I'd get revenge on Caroline's daughter, if he lost. But, that Oliver interfered. I found the pamphlet where I wrote my plan down."

The camera crew turned towards Jan and James and started interviewing them.

"What would you like to see happen to this man," asked a reporter. "He looks dangerous."

"Give him the same punishment that Jeff got," answered Jan.

"We'll definitely take that into consideration," stated Officer Scott. "Anything else?"

"I'd like to slap him, but I know I'd go to jail," replied Jan. "But, if I could do it, I would."

The principal went and got Kimberly and Tommy's duffle of the bus and took them to James. The principal opened up the baseball and softball locker rooms that were next to the school. Tommy grabbed his duffle and went into the boys locker room, took a quick shower and brushed his teeth. He opened his duffle and got out a green Henley and khakis. Tommy quickly got dressed and went back outside. Kimberly went into the girls locker room took a shower and brushed her teeth and go dressed into a pink tee shirt and a pair of pink denim shorts.

After she got dressed, she went back to where James and Tommy were at. She saw they had camera crews interviewing Tommy.

"Mr. Oliver, how were you and Ms. Hart able to deal with being in carrot sleeping bag hanging on a flag pole?" asked a reporter.

"Simply just having Kimberly with me," answered Tommy. "She been my best friend since 2nd grade."

Kimberly heard them talking to Tommy about her and wanted to know where he was saying. She walked over to where James was standing.

"How long have you known her?" asked a news reporter.

"Since I was a small child," explained Tommy. "But, I hated her at the time. I thought she was annoying and a pest. She'd chase all over the playground at recess."

"How'd you end up being friends?" questioned a news reporter.

"I saw a girl sneak a stick of butter in to our PE class and she put it on the balance beam," stated Tommy. "Kim got up on the balance beam and I feared she'd get hurt. When she slipped and fell, I ended up catching her."

"What lead you to catch her, if you couldn't stand her," asked a reporter.

"I secretly had a crush on her," confessed Tommy. "But, I didn't know if she'd like me back. I always thought she chased me on the play ground to annoy me, but she wanted me as a friend. She told me that after I caught her that day."

"What type of relationship do you have with her now?" asked another reporter.

Tommy noticed she was sitting on bench and it dawned him that he heard everything that he said. He walked over to the bench and took a seat next her. The news reports and camera crews followed him.

"You never said what type of relationship do you have with her now," repeated the reporter.

"I still consider her as my best friend," answered Tommy. "Today she told something that I had been wanting to know for awhile."

"Ms. Hart, what did you tell him?" asked a reporter.

"I told him that I was in love with him," replied Kimberly.

"Mr. Oliver, do you love her back?" asked another reporter.

"I do love her back," smiled Tommy. "And I asked her to be my girl friend. She said yes."

"What did you do, when you found out that she loved you?" asked a reporter.

Tommy didn't answer the report, instead he leaned closer to Kimberly and they started kissing each other on lips. The news paper reporters were taking pictures of the kiss and the camera crew was filming it. Finally, they pulled a part. Then the news reports and camera crews left.

"I can't believe you kissed me on TV."

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time, especially since you told me that you loved me. Now, I won't nervous about asking you to all of the school dancing, when we start high school in a few months."


	12. Power Rangers, Green Candle, and Surgery

A few months, the two of them went to high school. Both of them signed up for all of the same class and both of them were thrilled that they got in the same classes. High School was a big adjustment, since they had classes with Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. Shortly after school started, Kimberly and Tommy became a power rangers along with Jason Scott, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan, and Zach Taylor. Kimberly was the pink ranger and Tommy was the green ranger. Tommy ended up becoming a ranger because he was under one of Rita Repulsa's spells, but the rangers were able free him from Rita's spell.

Since Tommy still felt guilty over being the evil green ranger, he always wanted to stay with Kimberly when they were hanging out with the other rangers. Tommy feared that the other rangers would still hold him accountable for what he did as the green ranger. However, he found out that his other friends really cared about him after he lost his powers due to the green candle. After he lost his powers, he went to the lake. Kimberly was concerned about her best friend and wanted to find him. She found him practicing karate by the lake.

"They said I might find you here," stated Kimberly.

"Yeah, I like practicing outside sometimes," answered Tommy. "I like to smell the fresh air."

"How are you doing?" asked Kimberly.

"I'm hanging," replied Tommy. "Been practicing my karate and focusing on my school work. I'm just trying to say busy."

"I miss you," said Kimberly.

"You guys were a team long before I became a ranger," responded Tommy.

"So were we," gasped Kimberly. "We've best friends long before either one of us became power rangers."

"I'll be back to normal before too long," promised Tommy.

"I miss you," repeated Kimberly.

Tommy grabbed her hand and they both kissed each other.

"Will you be my date Saturday to the dance?" asked Tommy.

"Of course, I'll be your date," replied Kimberly.

Kimberly was looking forward to the dance. But, Tommy couldn't care didn't care one way or another. He wasn't feeling good and he went into the living room to go lay down on the couch. Kimberly went into the living room with Tommy. She noticed Tommy was sweaty and was holding his right side. His parents came into the room to check on him and noticed he had a high fever and saw he was holding his right side. Jan realized that Tommy had an appendicitis and she called an ambulance.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Kimberly. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Jan is calling an ambulance to come take him to the hospital," answered James. "I think he has an appendicitis."

"Can I go to the hospital with him?" begged Kimberly.

"What do you think?" whispered James.

"She is Tommy's best friend," answered Jan. "They are both fifteen and she will get go visit him in his room."

"You can go," stated James.

When the ambulance came, Tommy was put on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital. A doctor met them at the entrance of the hospital. He took a look at Tommy.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Kimberly asked tearfully.

"He has an appendicitis," answered the doctor. "But, it looks like it has ruptured. We're going to prep him for surgery."

Tommy was taken to the emergency room and Kimberly couldn't go back with him.

"Jan, is this girl any relation to Tommy?" asked the doctor.

"This is Kimberly. She is my son's best friend," explained Jan. "She is also his girl friend."

"So, this is the girl that you talk so much about," said the doctor.

"Yes," answered James. "They spend a lot of time together."

The doctor went into the operating room, since Tommy was ready for 's parents were told that his appendix had ruptured. Jan switched swifts with one of other nurses so she could go assist in the operating room. While Tommy was in surgery, Kimberly called Trini, Zack, Jason, and Billy. All of them teleported to the hospital quickly. They were all at the dance and walked, when she contacted them.

Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy took a seat next to Kimberly and James.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Kimberly.

"He's going to be fine," reassured James. "I talked to Jan and she's in the operating room with Tommy. His appendix ruptured and they are having to remove it. He'll be out in a few hours."

The four other rangers, stayed with Kimberly and James all night. But, they ended up contacting their parents to tell them where they were at. Kimberly ended up falling asleep since it was midnight. But, she woke up several times during the night. She was wanting to know if Tommy was out of surgery yet. Around 7:30, James woke Kimberly up and they went into Tommy's hospital room. Jan was already in there. Tommy was still tired from the anesthetic. But, he wanted to know if Kimberly was there.

"She's here," reassured Jan. "She's been here all night."

Kimberly walked over to Tommy's bed. She kicked off her shoes and climbed in the bed with him. She was really tired since she didn't sleep much during the night. Plus she ended up falling asleep. Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy stayed in Tommy's room for a while.

"Kimberly didn't sleep well last night," stated Trini.

"She slept off and on during the night," added Jason.

"How's Tommy?" asked Zack.

"His appendix busted and we had remove it," informed Jan.

"Kimberly didn't tell us that!" gasped Billy.

"We didn't tell her that yet," explained Jan. "I didn't want her to get upset. I'm going to tell her, when she wakes up."

Jason, Trini, Zack and Billy left the hospital room, so Kimberly could sleep. And they wanted Tommy to get some rest.

 **Four Hours Later**

Kimberly woke up after she had rested for a few hours. She remembered that she was in Tommy's hospital room. Tommy was still sleeping peacefully and they had him on pain medicine. Kimberly noticed Jan was in the hospital room with the surgeon.

"Is he okay?" asked Kimberly.

"He was very lucky to get here when he did," answered the doctor. "If he waited to much longer, he wouldn't have made it. His body is still weak from fighting the infection. We also found out something, when he had the has some blocked tubes in his body and hormonal problems."

"Is it serious?" questioned Kimberly.

"He won't be able to have children," admitted Jan.

"Does he know?" questioned Kimberly. "And he is okay with it?"

"He knows," stated Jan. "Tommy, is worried how you would be when you found out."

"Why?" asked Kimberly.

"Tommy is worried that you'd be mad at him," explained Jan. "He was worried about how it would effect your relationship with him."

"Why is it bothering him so much?" questioned Kimberly.

"He has been rejected a lot by other children and is scared he'll loose his best friend," explained James.

"He is my best friend and I love him so much," reassured Kimberly. "I don't hold him responsible."

"He was worried about you'd react when he told you that he couldn't parent a child," said Jan. "He was afraid you wouldn't believe that he had a blockage."

"I believe it," promised Kimberly. "I love him and I always will."

She put her arms around Tommy. He had been asleep for awhile and woke up, when he felt her put his arms around him.

"Tommy, you have nothing to worry about," promised Jan. "We told Kimberly about your blockage and she's fine with it."

"I love you so much," reassured Kimberly. "It doesn't make a difference to me if we can't have children or not."


	13. Damsel in Distress

A few Months after Tommy's surgery, Zordon was able to recharge Tommy's powers. He'd only be the green ranger for a short time. Zordon and Alpha were trying to find a source that would help Tommy keep his powers. He could only go into to battle, when he was needed. Over the summer, Lord Zedd took over Rita's castle. Zedd was red and looked like the inside of the human body. He had a sliver visor with the letter Z and he had a Z staff. Zedd shrank Rita and put her back in her dumpster and send her off into space. After Rita was gone, Zedd made some changes. He gave Goldar back his wings, he created his own putties with the letter Z on them. Ever since Zedd was around, Tommy went into battle more because Kimberly was a damsel in distress. That caused Tommy's powers to drain even more.

Both Kimberly and Tommy formed a good relationship with Trini, Jason, Billy and Zack. Tommy spent time with Jason, Zack, and Billy, while Kimberly spent time with Trini. But, they liked to spend more time with each other, than they did with anyone else. When they started their sophomore year, both Kimberly and Tommy had their drivers licenses. James bought them a car to share and so they could drive to school in the mornings. Both of them agreed to take turns driving to school. On the first day of school, Tommy saw that he had all of his classes with Kimberly. The only class that they had with Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy was Ms. Appleby's class and lunch. Kimberly and Tommy had signed up for paleontology, physical fitness and diving/swimming I.

Tommy enjoyed the fact that he had Kimberly in all of his class again. It took his mind of her being a damsel in distress. But, it still bothered him because he's powers were limited. He feared that when he lost his powers for good, Zedd would take her and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Tommy was scared Zedd or Goldar would take her during the night. Kimberly was tired of Tommy keeping her up all night, so she told James and Jan he was having a hard time in school. And she told them that he wanted to stay with her at night. Jan and James told them if they wanted to sleeping the same room, they had to sleep in their bedroom in sleeping bags or on folding cots.

 **Morning of a Storm**

On a Tuesday morning, Tommy and Kimberly woke up early. Jan, James, Kimberly, and Tommy had spent the night down in the basement because they had sever storms all night. All of them slept of folding cots and had sleeping bags laying on their cot. The previous night there was wind blowing several miles an hour, the sky was dark, the rain was heavy, and there was hail. When they woke up, Jan was watching the weather, while James was cooking breakfast.

"Mom, what's the weather going to be like?" asked Tommy.

"Its going to rain all day and it's going to be windy," answered Jan. "I don't think it is going to be as bad as it was last night. Why don't you go upstairs, get a shower, and get dressed. James should have breakfast by then. One of you can take a shower in mine and James' private bathroom to save time."

They went up to their rooms to get their clothes that they were going to wear to school. Tommy grabbed a pair black tennis shoes, a pair khakis, a green Henley, and a green, white, and black plaid flannel shirt. He went into Jan and James private bathroom and started to take a shower. Meanwhile, Kimberly was standing in front of her closet. She couldn't decide if she was going to wear. Tommy quickly finished his shower and got dressed. He quickly brushed his teeth and pulled his hair back into a ponytail. Then he went to Kimberly's room to see if she was ready. Tommy noticed she only had a pink velour tracksuit laying on her bed.

"Tommy, I can't decide what shirt I'm going to wear and I can't decide on what pair of shoes I'm going to wear."

Tommy looked in her closet and got out a pink and white striped long sleeve tee shirt and a pair of pink tennis shoes. He could tell she was satisfied because she kissed him on the side of the cheek. Kimberly grabbed her clothes and went to take her shower. A few minutes later, she was ready to go down stairs for breakfast. Shortly after they ate breakfast, they got in the car and drove to school.

During the first four periods of the day, everything was quiet and normal. After lunch Tommy and Kimberly finished lunch, they went to their three hour swimming/ diving class. Everyone in the class had to be changed into their swim wear by the time class started. When they got to the in door pool, they went into the locker rooms to change. Kimberly changed into a pink one piece suit and Tommy changed into a pair of green swimming trunks. After they changed, both of them took a seat on the bleachers.

The room had a big window and they could see what was taking place outside. It was pouring down rain, the wind was blowing hard, and there was hail.

"Tommy, I thought your mom said that the weather wasn't suppose to be like this."

"I guess, the weather changed at the last minute."

Kimberly wrapped her arms around Tommy and she was shaking. He pulled her close and held her. No one else came into the room, after the bell rang.

"Beautiful, wonder where everyone is?" questioned Tommy.

Mr. Kaplan come over the intercom to make an announcement.

"We're under a sever storm warning," declared Mr. Kaplan. "Everyone please go to take cover. Also we've seen a gold monkey outside the school. All of the entrances to the building, the gym, and pool locked. If there are any students outside, in the gym, or in the room with the pool, please find shelter."

Tommy quickly grabbed Kimberly's hand and they went to the hallway with locker rooms. Both of them went into their locker rooms to change, but they both found their clothes shredded and torn. Kimberly began to feel weak and noticed her power coin was missing. She quickly went out into the hallway and saw Tommy looked very weak too. Kimberly didn't have enough energy to stand up and she fell to the floor. Tommy quickly ran to her side.

"Are you okay?" asked Tommy.

"I feel weak," answered Kimberly.

Tommy hit the ground and was laying next to her. He noticed that he was feeling very weak and tired. Both of them noticed that they were having their energy drained. Kimberly had pink energy flowing out of her body and Tommy had green energy flowing out of his body. Tommy used what little energy that he had left to pull Kimberly over to him. He held her as close as he could and she put her arms around his neck. Neither one of them had enough energy to move or get up.

Tommy noticed Goldar was walking over to them and he saw Goldar was holding two power coins.

"Looking for theses?" asked Goldar.

"He's got our power coins!" gasped Tommy. "How did you get them?"

"Lord Zedd, instructed me to get a power coin," explained Goldar. "I took the pink ranger's coin since she is weak. Then I thought two coins would be better than one. So, I took yours too."

"You won't get away with this!" warned Kimberly.

"Pink ranger, you're coming with me!" stated Goldar.

"I'm not letting you take my best friend!" declared Tommy.

"Tommy, I was going to give you back your coin if you gave her to me," lied Goldar.

"If I gave her to you, I wouldn't get the coin back," remarked Tommy. "Then I'd be without my best friend and my power coin. I'm sick of you using her as a damsel in distress!"

Goldar walked over to them and he was able to carry them both. He teleported back to Zedd's castle. When he got to the castle, he threw them in a corner. Tommy and Kimberly saw Finster, Squat, and Baboo were still living in the castle, along with the new putties. Zedd had throne that he sat on right side of the room. Behind the throne was a huge fan.

"You did a good job bringing me two rangers and two power coin," smirked Zedd. "I only requested one ranger and one power coin. But, two of each is better."

"Both of them are loosing energy," explained Goldar. "Tommy's powers are limited, especially since he's loosing energy. The pink rangers in the same position, but if she looses her powers there won't be a pink ranger anymore."

"I'm going send them to my dungeon," stated Zedd. "The power coins will be at the end of the dungeon."

Zedd looked straight at Tommy.

"I know your powers are limited and the pink ranger is weak because we stole her power coin," smiled Zedd. " You may only take one power coin. The one that you don't choose will be destroyed."

"That means one of you can't be a power ranger any more," continued Goldar. "If you chose your coin, the pink ranger will cease to exist because her life force will be drained. If you choose the pink power coin, you'll never be able to use the powers of the green ranger ever again."

Zedd waved his wand and Tommy and Kimberly appeared in Zedd's dungeon. Tommy and Kimberly appeared in a cold, damp, and dark place. There was smoke up to their shoulders. Tommy was still holding Kimberly in his arms.

Both of us may be here for awhile. I don't like position we're in!" said Kimberly.

"Beautiful, I don't like the position we're in either," admitted Tommy. "I have you and I can make do with just having you and nothing else."

"How can you make do with just having me?" Kimberly asked angrily.

"When I'm with you I don't feel alone or scared," explained Tommy. "You make me a better person. You still saw good in me when I was the evil green ranger. If I'm scared I can hold you and realize that everything is going to be okay. Kim, you're my life line, my security blanket, my best friend, the person I love the most, and my world."

"No one knows where we are!" cried Kimberly.

"Don't you think I know that," answered Tommy. "We're going to get your coin back."

"We don't have enough strength," gasped Kimberly. "If you take my coin, you won't be a ranger anymore."

"I don't want to loose powers either," confessed Tommy. But, if I choose my coin, I loose you. My powers are limited anyway."

"Tommy, I don't want that for you," sobbed Kimberly. "I'm weak and I'm always the damsel in distress. You're a much better ranger than me."

"That may be true," replied Tommy. "But, you are much more important to me."

He held out his hand and she took hold of and Kimberly walked through the dark and damp area. They were beginning to walk through water and the water was up to their ankles. It was barely warm. Zedd would make sure their stay would be unpleasant. But, Zedd would probably have a place that had food and water down there because he'd want them to there for a long time and have it really rough.

As they walked farther down the path, the water was a little warmer than it was, when they first started walking through it. But, dungeon was getting colder. They were both cold. Tommy wished that they had something to help keep them warm. The water was now up to their knees and it was getting warmer. Tommy saw a strawberry bush and a spring close by. They both stopped long enough to eat some strawberries and drink from the spring. When they got further along, the water was up to his knees and it was warmer. However, the rest of the area was really cold. Their fingers were numb, they were sneezing, and they was getting weaker. The water was now up to their waist and it was much warmer. Tommy didn't know much longer they could keep going.

"Maybe, we need to stop and rest," suggested Tommy. "There's a boulder we can sit against."

"It sounds like a good idea," responded Kimberly.

They continued to walk closer to the boulder. But, Tommy eventually dropped to his knees and couldn't walk much further. He felt someone drag him to the nearest boulder. Tommy sat down against the boulder. Kimberly quickly sat down next to him. He was still really weak from being in the cold for so long. Kimberly wasn't much better. But, Tommy had his arm around her to give her support while they walked, so she wouldn't fall; Her energy was being drained faster than his. He slowly pulled Kimberly towards him and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Kimberly was sitting in his lap and her back was resting against his bare chest. The water was up to their shoulders.

Tommy still felt weak and tired. But, at least he finally found a place for him and Kimberly to rest at. That's all what mattered to him. Her smooth hair was touching his bare chest and he loved the feel of her silky brown hair. He felt her head was resting against his chest.

"We should have stopped to rest a few times!" said. Kimberly.

"I never thought of that," gasped Tommy.

"But, you almost froze," informed Kimberly. You were sneezing and you nearly fainted. If I wasn't close to where you were, you would have collapsed and went face first into the water you would have drowned."

"We're looking for the power coins," responded Tommy. "Don't realize how worried I've been? I know our power coins are at the end of this dungeon. We have to get your coin back. I know you're mad because I didn't take care of myself."

"I am mad because you let yourself get weak and you didn't stop and rest," admitted Kimberly.

"Ever since we've been here, all I've wanted to do was hold you in my arms for awhile," stated Tommy. "We've been here for no telling how long. I'm finally getting to hold you."

"What good will holding me do us?" questioned Kimberly. "It's only going to slow us down."

"I love holding you," smiled Tommy. "Beautiful, you're my best friend, the person I love the most, you're my whole life, you're my life line, and you're my security blanket. When I hold you, it's comforting. I know that I'm safe, I'm loved, and everything is going to be okay."

"I'm still not happy with you," confessed Kimberly. "You're also my best friend, the person I love the most, my whole life, my life line, and my security blanket. And as much as I hate to admit that I actually like it when you hold me and kiss on me. I feel like I'm save, loved, and everything is going to be okay."

"At least you aren't freaking out now," laughed Tommy. "I think you are the most beautiful girl that I've ever seen. I call you "Beautiful" because you have a beautiful heart and a beautiful soul. You're sweet, sincere, and kind. That's how I look at you."

"I think you are the most handsome boy I've seen," smiled Kimberly. "I also think you have a beautiful heart and a beautiful soul. You're sweet, sincere, and kind. And it doesn't matter that you can't father a child. You're the only boy that I'm ever going to want to have in my life."

Both of them were worn out from all the drama and they both took a nap for several hours. When they woke up, Tommy was still holding Kimberly. He felt like he had regained some strength knew Kimberly wasn't up to full strength yet and he didn't want her walking in the cold yet.

"I know you're still not up to fully strength yet," revealed Kimberly. "I want to hold you for awhile."

"I'm sure the water will get deeper as we walk farther down the path," warned Tommy.

"I'm afraid that it is just going to be us," Kimberly said sadly. "I have a feeling that the whole time that we are down here, all we're going to have is each other. We won't have anything else until we get out of here."

"We'll manage," promised Tommy. "We've done okay during other difficult times. We just have to get your coin back."

Tommy stood up and helped Kimberly up. Both of them continued to walk down the long path. The water got deeper and the water up to their shoulders. Tommy knew that they'd have to swim the rest of the way. He knew Kimberly was still loosing energy and was very weak. But, he saw something green and pink glowing about 100 feet away from them.

"Kim, hold on to my back," ordered Tommy. "I think I have enough energy to swim 100 feet. I see something green and pink glowing 100 feet away from us."

Kimberly got on Tommy's back and he started to swim towards the green and pink light. She was loosing energy, so he swam as fast as he could. Finally, he reach the green and pink light. The power coins were at the bottom of the water. Tommy knew they were going to have to swim down and get the power coins.

"Beautiful, hold on to me," demanded Tommy. "Don't let go. I'm going to get your coin."

Tommy dived down under the water and swam as quickly as he could to the two power coins. Kimberly was getting weaker. He realized that they were almost at the bottom. Both of them were holding their breath. Tommy reached out and grabbed Kimberly's power coin. He watched the green power coin dissolve. Kimberly was so weak, she fell off Tommy's back and was passed out. Tommy quickly grabbed her and swam to the surface. He quickly handed Kimberly her power coin and they were teleported out of Zedd's dungeon.

They were now in the command center. Jason, Zach, Trini, and Billy were all there. The four other rangers had been trying to get a lock on Tommy and Kimberly all day.

"How'd you find us?" asked Tommy.

"We were able to get a lock on the pink power coin," answered Billy.

"Zordon, I'm not a ranger anymore," explained Tommy. "Mine and Kim's power coins were stolen by Zedd. We had to go to swim to bottom of huge body of water in Zedd's dungeon. We could only take one. I took Kim's coin. If I didn't take hers, she'd cease to exist."

Tommy was holding Kimberly in his arms. She was still passed out and looked very weak.

"Tommy, you made the right choice," reassured Jason.

"I think you and Kim should stay in the command center tonight," suggested Alpha.

"We've told your parents we're having a sleep over at Jason's," stated Billy. "And they packed you an over night bag. We brought your over night bags here. You both have pajamas and a change of clothes."

Tommy had a pair green pajama pants and a white tee shirt and Kimberly had a pink night gown to sleep in. The next day, Tommy had khakis, and a white Henley. Kimberly had a pink tee shirt and a pair of summer overalls. All of the other rangers teleported out. Kimberly was sound asleep on a cot.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Tommy. "The team can't loose Kimberly. And I can't loose her."

"Tommy, she's going to be fine," reassured Zordon. "For the past few months, Alpha and I have been creating new powers for a new ranger. We've already found a person who is worthy enough to be the white ranger."

"Who would that be?" questioned Tommy.

"We watched the event that took place today," explained Alpha. "We saw it on the viewing global."

"You saw everything that happened?" gasped Tommy.

"Yes," smiled Zordon. "Your determination to save Kimberly's life and to get her power coin back, has shown us that we couldn't ask for anyone better to be the white ranger. This time your powers can't be taken away for evil use."

"We've decided that will reveal the white ranger to the other rangers tomorrow," added Alpha. "You should get some sleep."

Tommy changed into his pajamas and laid down on the cot that was next to Kimberly. He couldn't believe he was going to be the new white ranger. Tommy was also happy to know that he wouldn't loose his white ranger powers to a candle.


	14. White Ranger

Kimberly left the command center the following morning. She meet with Jason, Trini, Zach, and Billy at the youth center. Tommy supposedly had some secret plans that he couldn't reveal. All of them were gathered around the table drinking smoothies. All of a sudden, they heard their communicators go off. The five rangers went to a place to go answer their communicators.

"Go ahead," said Jason.

"Please teleport to the command center," stated Zordon. "We want you to meet the white ranger."

"We're on our way," declared Jason.

"There's a new ranger!" gasped Kimberly. "Why couldn't Tommy have the powers of the white ranger?"

"We'll just go to the command center," stated Jason. "Let's get this over with."

All five of them teleported to the command center.

"Welcome power rangers," greeted Zordon. "This promises to be a momentous occasion. You are about to meet the newest member of the team. As you know the green rangers powers were decimated by his last battle. We decided to create an even more powerfully ranger. We've chosen a candidate to be the white ranger. And now I present to you the white ranger."

A bright light white appeared in the room and all five rangers had to cover their eyes, since the light was very bright. The white ranger came floating down into the room.

"Welcome white ranger," said Zordon. "Now it is time to reveal your identity."

The white ranger began to remove his helmet. Kimberly fainted before she learned his true identity. The other four rangers just stood there and watched the person remove their helmet...it was Tommy.

"Guess whose back," smiled Tommy.

"I don't believe it," gasped Billy.

All four of them ran over to Tommy.

"As soon as we heard there was going to be a new ranger, we were hoping it would be you!" informed Jason.

"Especially, Kimberly," added Billy.

"And speaking of Kimberly," stated Tommy.

He walked over to where his best friend was. Tommy noticed she was on the floor passed out. He bent down and put his helmet on the ground. Then he gently lifted her head of the ground.

"Hey, Beautiful," greeted Tommy. "It's time to wake up."

She woke up and looked up into Tommy's face. He was wearing the white ranger's uniform. Kimberly couldn't believe Tommy was a ranger.

"I don't believe it," smiled Kimberly. "I must be dreaming. Is it really you?"

"In the flesh," answered Tommy.

Kimberly put her arms around Tommy's neck and hugged him.

"This is wonderful," declared Zach.

"It's fantastic," added Kimberly.

"Rangers, are you pleased with your new leader?" asked Zordon.

"This is great," smiled Jason.

"Sorry for being secretive," apologized Zordon. "We didn't want Lord Zedd to know that we were created a new ranger."

"Zordon, how were you able to do this?" asked Kimberly. " I thought Tommy lost his powers for good."

"Not Tommy's," corrected Alpha. "Just the green ranger's power."

"Tommy's proven himself to be worthy and true," explained Zordon. " His courage, strength and honor allowed us to choose him as the new white ranger. This time his power has been created by the light of goodness and they can never be taken away by the forces of evil."

"Tommy will command the white tiger zord," added Alpha. "He will also carry a tiger sword know as assist the white ranger in battle and help control the tiger zord."

"Congratulations Tommy," congratulated Zordon. "You are now the leader of the power rangers."

All of the rangers gave Tommy a welcome home party. Tommy had never been a leader of a team before, so it was hard for him to adapt. A few weeks later, Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy met Rocky, Adam, and Aisha at the park. They meet after they helped their new friends save Mr. Anderson's little boy Jacob. Rocky, Adam, Aisha were at Angel Grove to compete in a competition, however they were captured by Goldar. Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy had to fight a monster with Jason Zack and Trini before they could go save their new friends.

 **At the Cave**

The blue, white, and pink ranger went inside and saw Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Mr. Anderson chained up.

"The power rangers!" shouted Aisha. "See I told you!"

"I want to handle this one," stated Kimberly.

"Kim, are you sure?" asked Tommy.

"Tommy, she'll be fine," reassured Billy.

Jason, Billy, Zack, and Tommy fought putties, while Kimberly and Trini went inside the cave. Kimberly used her laser to free all four of them. Trini teleported with Mr. Anderson back to the park. Kimberly grabbed the snake in Aisha's lap and began to wrestle. The three teens went outside to help fight the putties. Jason and Zack left to go fight putties in another area. Billy and Tommy defeated the putties.

"Where's the pink ranger?!" cried Tommy.

"She's still in the cave," answered Aisha. "She was fighting the snake."

"I knew I shouldn't have let Kimberly go inside the cave alone!" gasped Tommy.

Tommy took of running and went inside the cave. Billy ran into the cave after Tommy. He told Rocky, Adam, and Aisha to stay outside, but the followed. Meanwhile, Kimberly was fighting the snake.

"Tommy! Billy!" yelled Kimberly. "Help! I can't let the snake bit me."

The snake wrapped itself around Kimberly's neck and she began to have trouble breathing. Tommy was the first one in the cave and he pulled out his laser gun. He fired a laser at the snake and it dissolved. Tommy and Billy quickly ran to Kimberly.

"We need to get her helmet off," cried Billy.

Tommy yanked her helmet off. The three teens couldn't help from wanting to know who the rangers were, after they heard that they were taking Kimberly's helmet off. They walked closer.

"Kimberly, are you okay?" asked Tommy.

"Yeah," answered Kimberly.

"Wow, I can't believe it!" cried Aisha. "Kimberly!?"

"Oh, no!" gasped Kimberly.

"Then you must be Billy," guessed Adam.

Billy took of his helmet.

"And the white ranger must be Tommy!" cried Rocky.

Tommy removed his helmet.

"You guys are the power rangers!" gasped Aisha. "This unbelievable!"

 **A Few Hours Later at the Command Center**

All of the rangers were at the command center, even Rocky, Adam, and Aisha. Kimberly was really nervous because she broke a rule and revealed her identity and their news friends realized Tommy and Billy were rangers.

"Tommy, we're going to loose our powers," whispered Kimberly.

He wrapped an arm around his best friend and held her close.

"Welcome rangers," greeted Zordon. "And I want to wish a warm welcome to our new friends."

"Zordon, please don't take our powers away," pleaded Billy. "The snake was wrapped around Kimberly's neck and she couldn't breath. We had to get her helmet off."

"Relax, we saw everything on the viewing global," reassured Alpha. "You didn't do anything wrong. We aren't going to take your powers away."

"Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, you are the only ones who know the true identities of the power rangers," explained Zordon. "Alpha has done a back ground check on you. All of you seem to be model citizens and most importantly trustworthy. It is very that this information is kept a secret. I'm going to ask that you take a vow."

"We'll take that vow," declared Adam.

"Count on it," added Aisha.

"And we'll never betray you," promised Rocky.

"Please repeat after me," requested Zordon. "I swear under the forces of goodness."

"I swear under the forces of goodness," repeated Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.

"To never reveal the identities of the power rangers," stated Zordon.

"To never reveal the identities of the power rangers," repeated Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.

"Thank you," smiled Zordon.


	15. Forever Friends

Several weeks later, Jason, Trini, and Zack got to go to a World Teen Peace Summit in Switzerland. They passed their powers to Rocky, Adam, and Aisha. All three of them were quickly able to be apart of the team. Billy and Tommy got to be really close friends with Adam and Rocky. Kimberly and Aisha became very close and they went to the mall together twice a week.

Shortly after Christmas, Kimberly and Tommy went to the mall to buy each other a birthday gift. Neither one of them could find anything that they though the other one would like. They met each other at the jewelry store. Kimberly saw Tommy was at friendship necklaces.

"What are you looking at?" questioned Kimberly.

I saw a friendship necklace at the mall and it breaks into two parts," informed Tommy. "It's in the shape of a heart. I was wanting to get one for those for us. You can customize it."

"I've been wanting to get us one of those," confessed Kimberly. "But, I don't know if you'd wear it. I know you don't like to wear necklaces or jewelry."

"I'd wear a necklace like that and I'd never take it off," smiled Tommy.

"You'd wear it?" asked Kimberly.

"I'm serious, I'd wear it," promised Tommy. "You're my best friend and I love you so much."

"You're mine too," added Kimberly. "I love you too."

Both of them went to the counter and had a necklace customized. Both them used half of their Christmas money to buy the necklace and they stayed at the mall for the next hour waiting for it to be made. On Kimberly's half it said "Tommy's best friend", and it had a green stone, a white stone, a red stone, and a black stone at the bottom. Tommy's half said "Kimberly's best friend," and it had a pink stone in it. When they picked it up, both of them instantly helped the other put their necklace on.


	16. Stop the Hate Master

Several months passed since Aisha, Rocky, and Adam became those several months a lot of things took place. Zedd married Rita and the rangers had to deal with two villains'. Shortly after Zedd and Rita married, all of the rangers had to go on a ninja quest to have their powers restored. Even during the summer, they had to fight monsters. When they went back to school in the fall they were juniors. All of the juniors were allowed to choose their science class, so Tommy and Kimberly signed up for paleontology. All of them had a lot on their plate because they had tests every time they turned around. All seven of them only had two classes together. Which was history and English. Billy was a lot of AP classes and they didn't see him outside of history and English. Aisha signed up for chorus, band, music history, and a piano class for electives. Rocky and Adam signed up for machine shop, wood shop, kendo, and an advance karate class. Tommy and Kimberly signed up for advanced swimming, aqua jogging, water aerobics and paleontology. Both of them had the same schedule and the same lunch period. However, Billy, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha didn't have the same lunch period. So, Kimberly and Tommy spent their lunch period sitting at a table all to themselves. Plus, they stayed together during the other six classes that they didn't have their friends in. They had their advanced swimming, aqua jogging, and water aerobics the last four periods of the day, since their advanced swimming class was for two class periods.

After the first grading period had ended, both of them hoped to be accepted into Honor Society, which was offered to students who had 3.0 or higher grade point average. The students who were in the Honor Society got free admission to every ball game, got their prom tickets half price, got a discount when they bought things at the school book store, and got in free for school dances. Even though they got letters inviting them to join, they had to be voted in by other students. Teachers had no say about who was voted in. The president and the vice president of the club were the ones who had the final say. However they were two of the students who bullied other students. Niether one of them were accepted by the president or vice president. It didn't surprise Tommy because he was bullied by those two students and he didn't care why they didn't accept him. However, Kimberly wanted to know why she didn't get voted in and she asked the president and the vice president why they didn't accept her into the club. The biggest reason was because she was friends with Tommy Oliver, who they considered to be weird and uncool. She was unaware that Tommy had asked why he didn't get accepted. And the reason why he wasn't was because he wouldn't break up with Kimberly because just so president of the club could date him.

When Jan got home she saw Kimberly out in the pool alone and Tommy was inside watching TV. Tommy was flipping through the channels.

"How was your day at school?" asked Jan.

"I'd rather not talk about it," answered Tommy.

"Did you and Kimberly have an argument?" questioned Jan. "When I came home I saw Kimberly in the pool alone."

"No, we didn't have an argument," reassured Tommy. "We need wanted alone time. We didn't get into the club."

"Do you know why you didn't get accepted into the club?" asked Jan.

"I don't know why Kim didn't get accepted," replied Tommy. "She wouldn't tell me. The reason why didn't get accepted into the club was because the president of the club wanted me to break up with Kimberly so she could date me. Mom, I love Kimberly."

"Maybe you should go have a swim with her," suggested Jan. "She needs cheering up. I'll outside and talk to her, while you change."

Tommy went up stairs and changed into a pair white board shorts and a green tee shirt. When he went down stairs he saw Jan was out on the porch talking with Kimberly. He quietly walked outside.

"I heard Tommy didn't get accepted into the club either," said Jan. " I'm sure you'd both get in. What happened?"

"I wasn't accepted into the club because I'm friends with your son," Kimberly said tearfully. "I was told he was uncool and weird. The only way I could be in the club was if I dumbed him."

"Do you really want to be in a club that would require that of you?" asked Jan.

"No," answered Kimberly. "I love your son.

Tommy sat at the edge of the pool with Kimberly.

"You heard why I didn't get into the club?" asked Kimberly.

"I did," admitted Tommy. "I didn't get in for the same reason. The president of the club wanted me to break up with you, so she could date me. I won't do it."

"Did any of our other friends get voted in?" questioned Kimberly.

"Billy, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha," answered Tommy.

Both of them spent the next few hours in the pool, since it would most likely be the last they would be able to get in it, until the spring. At dinner Jan and James asked them about school.

"How do you like school this year?" asked Jan. "You haven't talked much about it."

"We like it," answered Tommy. "We have the same schedule all day and the same lunch period."

"Do you have any class with your other friends?" asked James.

"Two," replied Kimberly. "We only have English and history with them."

"That's only for the first two class periods of the day," explained Tommy. "Then it's just me and Kimberly for the rest of the day. Aisha is taking music classes, Billy's taking AP classes, and Rocky and Adam are taking wood shop, machine shop, kendo, and an advance karate class."

"I saw that you and Kimberly are taking paleontology, advanced swimming, aqua jogging, and water aerobics," stated Jan.

"We are," answered Kimberly. "The classes are small since only juniors and seniors can take them. We decide to take paleontology for our science class. Next year, we're taking more paleontology classes and swimming classes. We've already taken all of the physical fitness classes. In our swim classes, we had to pair up with someone and that's who we practice with for the whole year."

"I bet you and Tommy paired up in all of those classes," grinned James.

"We did," smiled Tommy.

"So what lunch period do you have?" asked Jan.

"First," answered Tommy.

"What do you do after you get done eating?" asked James.

"We go change into our swim suits," answered Kimberly. "Everyone has to be changed by the time class starts. A lot of the students signed up for only one or two of the classes. Kim and I were the only ones who are in all three of classes."

"Do you have to change into your regualar clothes at the end of the period and then change back into your swim wear at the beginning of the class period?" asked Jan.

"No," responded Tommy. "We stay in our swim suits until we're done with the classes for the day. Since Kim and I are the only ones who are all three of the classes, we stay in our swim wear, until the end of the of the last period. But, our teacher lets us stay in the water or get out and dry off before the next period begins."

"What do you two do?" asked James.

"We stay in the water, since the water is warm," explained Tommy. "We have the afternoon break between 7th and 8th period. The big room with the pool has a concession stand and we can get snacks or drinks if we want anything at break time."

"We practically spend the last four class periods in the water," smiled Kimberly.

"How do you like that?" asked Jan.

"She loves it because she wear her fancy pink swim wear," explained Tommy. "The girls can only wear a one piece suit or shorts and tee shirt. And the boys can only wear swimming trunks, board shorts, or shorts and a tee shirt. It's one of Mr. Kaplan's rules, since he teaches the classes. While he's teaching the classes, the vice principal takes care of the school for him."

"The only jewelry that we can wear is rings without stones, chocker necklaces, ear rings, or necklaces that don't have a long chain," added Kimberly. "So, I keep to keep my half of the friendship heart on."

"I'm keeping mine on too," reminded Tommy.

"Is there any other drama going on at school?" questioned James.

"The kids in the junior class are bragging about drinking alcohol, doing drugs, partying with the in crowd, and making love," revealed Kimberly.

"Have you gotten any static for that too?" asked Jan.

"Some," admitted Kimberly.

"I hope you both have told them that you have morals and you don't believe in making love for the heck of it, or doing drugs, or drinking," declared Jan.

"A lot of the kids in our class or doing those things, and we've been made fun of because we're not," explained Kimberly. " Billy, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha aren't doing those things."

"We know," answered James. "You need to remember that you are judged by the people you hang with. So you always need to pick your friends carefully."

"Both of us have told them that we have morals and believe in doing stuff like that," reassured Tommy.

"That's part of peer pressure," explained Jan. "Kids at your age think all of that stuff is cool and the want to be considered part of the in-crowd and they do those things. Later on in life they regret those things. Once you say or do something you can never take it back."

 **Zedd's Palace**

Meanwhile on moon, Zedd and Rita were having a talk. Rita was married to Zedd for several months and he never got her a wedding present. Nor did he take her on a honeymoon.

"Zeddy, when are you taking me on a honeymoon or getting me my wedding present?!" Rita asked angrily.

"Rita, I have been wanting to surprise you with a monster that Finster and I have been making?" smiled Zedd.

"What is it?" demanded Rita.

"A Hate Master," answered Finster. "The hate monster causes people to hate each other. It will even cause the best of friends to end up hating each other."

"Will it work on the rangers?" questioned Rita.

"That is who we are going to try it out on," smiled Finster.

"Send it down to earth when it's finished," demanded Rita.

"Yes, my queen," agreed Finster.

 **The Following Morning**

When the alarm clock went off at 6:00 AM, James turned it off. Jan was sleeping in the day bed, Kimberly was on the couch, and Tommy was on the pullout bed. He woke his wife up and she woke Kimberly and Tommy up. Jan started cooking breakfast, while Kimberly was taking a shower down stairs and while Tommy was taking a shower down stairs. Once Tommy took his shower, he brushed his teeth and went into his room. He opened his closet and got out khakis, a solid white long sleeve shirt, and a white, grey, and tan plaid flannel shirt. Tommy walked down stairs and saw Kimberly was dressed in a new outfit. She was wearing a pink tee shirt and a maroon jumper dress.

"Tommy, what do you think of my outfit?" asked Kimberly.

"You look beautiful," answered Tommy.

Tommy took a seat and the breakfast table and Kimberly sat next to him. Jan served them breakfast. After breakfast, Kimberly and Tommy got in Tommy's car and he drove them to school. When Tommy pulled into his parking spot, Kimberly noticed there was a monster in the parking lot. The monster looked really ugly and mean. All she could tell was it had a dark blue face.

"Did you see that monster in the parking lot?" asked Kimberly.

"Yeah, I was going to go get a closer look," answered Tommy. "You go on in."

As soon as they got out of the car, she rushed over to Tommy. She didn't want him to go alone. And Tommy could tell by the look on Kimberly's face, that she didn't want him go alone. He held out his hand and she took hold off it.

"You can come, but you have to stay with me," ordered Tommy.

The monster began to sing rap music about people hating each other. They walked over to where the monster was, but it had disappeared before they could get a better look. So, they went on into school. As soon as they walked into school, they heard Rocky and Adam yelling at each other.

"I SAID GET OUT OF MY FACE!" yelled Rocky.

"YOU SPIT IN MY FACE!" yelled Adam.

"What's wrong with them?" Kimberly whispered to Tommy.

"No idea," replied Tommy. "It doesn't sound like Rocky and Adam they are closer."

They went to their lockers to get their books out of their lockers. Both of them saw Bulk and Skull slam their locker doors really hard. Then they were arguing who was better at pranks. Tommy noticed Billy was yelling at Rocky and Adam for being in his way. Aisha was yelling at Adam for making her drop her text books The bell rang and all of them went class. Usually in Ms. Appleby's class, Aisha sat in back of Kimberly, Tommy sat in the desk next to Kimberly, Rocky sat behind him, Adam sat behind Rocky, and Billy sat behind Adam. However, it was that morning. Only Kimberly sat next to Tommy. Rocky sat in the back corner on the right side of the class; Adam sat in back corner on the left side. Aisha sat in the left corner of the room and Billy sat in the middle of the room.

Bulk and Skull came into class five minutes late as usual. Most of the time they made to their desks and Ms. Appleby usually said she was glad they made it to class. This time, they were pushing and shoving each other to get in the room. Bulk pushed Skull down and got into the room first.

"Boys, I'm glad you made. But, there was no since pushing and shoving!" yelled Ms. Appleby.

"Bulk pushed me down!" hollered Skull. "I was here first!"

"No, I was!" Bulk said angrily.

"That's because you slammed my locker door shut, before I could get my text book!" answered Skull.

"Did he slam the locker door in your face to make you mad?" interrupted Aisha.

"You kept opening your locker just so you could slam it really hard!" remarked Billy. "I couldn't hardly get my stuff, because you were making too much noise. So, I paid you back and started opening my locker so I could slam it."

"But, it was making too much noise!" interrupted Adam. "Your lockers are right next to each other. And mine is across the hall! When you both slamming you lockers shut, it was making too much noise. I had to go back to my locker four times, because I kept forgetting the text book."

While, Bulk, Skull, Adam, Aisha and Billy were arguing, Kimberly and Tommy were whispering back and forth.

"What do you think caused this?" questioned Kimberly.

"Maybe that monster we saw in the parking lot," guessed Tommy. "Did you see anyone around it?"

"All I saw was people walking into school," confirmed Kimberly. "Maybe the monster had something to do with this."

During the morning break,Tommy and Kimberly went to the youth center and took a seat at the back table. Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy, were all in the youth center. Their communicators went off.

"Rangers, the hate master is effecting you," stated Zordon. "Come to the command center."

All of rangers teleported to the command center, other than Tommy and Kimberly.

"What happen to them?" asked Kimberly. "This morning we saw a monster in the school parking lot and it was singing a hate song in rap."

"Kimberly, the monster uses it rap music to cause people to hate each other," explained Zordon. "It can cause the best of friends to hate each other."

"Why weren't Kimberly and I effected by this?" asked Tommy.

"Alpha, start running a diagnostic scan on Tommy and Kimberly," requested Zordon.

A few minutes passed since Alpha began to run the scan. He couldn't find that was shielding them. Just then the scanner went off.

"It's coming from their necklaces," gasped Alpha.

"We bought each other these for our birthday," smiled Tommy.

"The necklaces seem to have a strong wave length of energy linked to them," gasped Alpha.

"Yes, their energies of love and friendship, must have shielded them from the monster," declared Zordon.

Just then the power supply to command center was turned off. All of them knew it was Billy who was responsible because he knew about the command center's electrical system.

"How much energy will it take to get us out? asked Tommy.

"A minimal amount," replied Alpha. "But, we don't have it."

"Alpha, yes we do," smiled Kimberly. "You can hook yourself up to the control panel."

A few minutes later, Alpha had enough energy to teleport them out. Tommy took his necklace off and handed it to Alpha.

"You said you'd never take it off!" gasped Kimberly.

"They will need to try to free the others," explained Tommy.

"But, we will need both halves," added Alpha.

"I can't take mine off!" sobbed Kimberly. "We could run into the hate master. I don't want it make me and Tommy to hate each other. He's my best friend!"

"Beautiful, they need both halves to free the others," reassured Tommy. "You'll be with me. We'll be fine."

Kimberly took her necklace off and handed it to Alpha.

"Both of you are true power rangers," smiled Zordon.

Tommy and Kimberly teleported out of the command center. They arrived at the park and the hate master was waiting for them. He started to sing a rap song. Kimberly was scared of his rap music and she threw her arms around Tommy and she was sobbing.

"I don't want to hate you," sobbed Kimberly. "The others are already under a spell and are saying hateful things to each other. I don't want it to happen to us to."

"Beautiful, it won't happen," reassured Tommy.

He wrapped his arms around Kimberly and held her close.

"Tommy, I love you and I'd never forgive myself if I was under a spell and hurt you," Kimberly said tearfully.

"I feel the same way,"answered Tommy. "I love you too."

The hate master noticed his powers were weakening.

"All this talk about friendship and love is making me grow weaker," gasped the hate monster.

"You can't tear us apart," smiled Tommy. "Kim and I have an unbreakable bond. Our parents thought us about love and friendship our whole lives."

The hate master exploded after Tommy made the comment. Five beams of light appeared in the park. It was Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy.

"Where's the monster?" asked Billy.

"Did you defeat it without us?" gasped Aisha. "How'd you do it?"

"By telling the monster about friendship and love," grinned Tommy. "That was the monster's weakness."


	17. I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger

Christmas was right around the corner and the rangers were getting ready for the holidays. Aisha and Kimberly were directing a Christmas pageant, while the other rangers were getting decorations up in the youth center. However, Tommy had bigger things on his mind. He went to the mall and bought an engagement ring for Kimberly. The ring had pink and white diamonds in it. He was showing Rocky, Adam, and Billy, the ring.

"When are you going to pop the question?" asked Rocky.

"After the Christmas pageant," explained Tommy. "I tried to do it before then, but we kept on getting interrupted. Then we got called to the North Pole to rescue Santa."

"Does she know?" asked Adam.

"No, she doesn't know about the ring," answered Tommy. "Do you think she will say yes?"

"Of Course, she will say yes!" reassured Rocky. "She's talked about wanting to marry you, since I've known her."

"She could say no," interrupted Bulk.

"No body asked you!" remarked Tommy.

"You couldn't stand her years ago," reminded Skull. "You used to think it was funny when people pulled pranks on her."

"We've had this talk before," stated Tommy.

"But, you we haven't told everyone about the prank that was pulled on her during second grade," declared Bulk. "We had to shower after PE. While Kimberly was taking her shower, Olivia and some of the other girl took her clothes."

"When Kimberly got out of the shower, her clothes were missing," laughed Skull. "All she had was a towel. Olivia told her that they took her clothes out side and they followed her outside."

"And when they got outside, Olivia called all of the kids in the class outside," added Bulk. "You weren't there because you got into a fight with CJ."

"What happened?" questioned Tommy.

"Olivia and took Kimberly's towel away and the whole class saw her in her birthday suit," smirked Skull. "Everyone else went back inside of the building and locked her out. The bell was about to ring and Kimberly took of running to the forest by the playground screaming."

"I don't think she'd want to be reminded of that," warned Tommy. "I'm sure it is painful."

"What are you going to do about it?" asked Bulk.

"Not let it happen again," answered Tommy.

Bulk and Skull got up and left the room. Tommy saw Kimberly walk over to where he was at. He noticed they were standing under mistletoe.

"You missed the pageant," informed Kimberly. "What happened?"

"Beautiful, I had something to ask you," smiled Tommy.

He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside was a ring and Kimberly near fainted.

"Is this what I think it is?!" gasped Kimberly.

Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy were standing by. Aisha had no idea Tommy was going to propose.

"Beautiful, I've known you all my life and you've lived with me and my family for almost a decade I love you," smiled Tommy. " And I always want you in my life. Will you marry me?"

"Yes," sobbed Kimberly.

Tommy slid the ring on her finger and they kissed. Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy walked over to them.

"Congrats on the engagement," congratulated Aisha.

"When's the big day?" asked Adam.

"After graduation," answered Tommy. "We are going to marry before college."

Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy went back to the Christmas party. But, Kimberly and Tommy went outside to take a walk by the lake. Kimberly had over heard Bulk and Skull talk about her most embarrassing moment.

"What was Bulk and Skull telling you about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard them ask you what you would do about something. And you said you wouldn't let it happen again. I heard them saying it had to do with Olivia stealing my clothes in PE. Tommy, I know it was."

"Yes, that what they were telling me about. You never told me about it."

"Tommy, it was embarrassing. Olivia had me go outside, but my clothes were still in the locker room. She called everyone outside and took my towel away. Everyone saw me in my birthday suit, even Bulk and Skull."

"I didn't I was in a fight with CJ and was in trouble. What ever happened after that?"

"Olivia and the rest of the class went inside and shut the door. I was locked out and the bell was about to ring to go to the next class. I took of running to the forest and we had a scavenger hunt during science. The class went into the forest to look for items. And I found a cave and hid inside the cave."

"How long were you there?"

"Three or four days?"

"Did your parents know?"

"No, my mom had to be out of town for a week. My dad wasn't going to be home for a week, but my mom didn't know that."

"Beautiful, how did you survive that long?"

"There was a hot spring in the cave and I stayed in it. I bathed in it and slept in it. Outside the gave was a spring and a fruit tree, so I had my food and what supplies. I just didn't have any thing to wear."

"When were you able to go get food and water?"

"In the mornings or in the afternoons, because a lot science classes were doing scavenger hunts."

"How did you get your clothes back?"

"Olivia brought them to me one day before school with hygiene supplies. Bulk and Skull put her up to it. When I came back to school that was when we got to pick our seats."

"I remember that day! That was when I took a seat at a table and you came and sat next to me. And after school that day you ran and hugged me after you got off the bus. That was when I found out you were going to be staying at my home for a weeks."

"My parents got into it because my mom thought I was at home by myself. My father did too. That's when she got beat up, they were already having trouble."

"Why didn't you tell them the truth?"

"If I did, I knew my mother would home school me. I didn't want that because I had my heart sat on making friends with you. Even though you ignored me, you didn't bully me."

"You ended up getting your wish."


End file.
